When Sokov followed Chuikov back to the Southern Cluster Headquarters, he heard bad news. The staff officer staying here reported to Chuikov: "Comrade Commander, two hours ago, the front headquarters directly issued an order to the 29th Division, asking them to immediately withdraw from the defensive area and move east to Abganerovo. Station area.”
Chuikov's face became particularly ugly when he learned that his reserve team had been transferred. He asked dissatisfiedly: "Who gave this bastard order?"
When the staff officer heard Chuikov's question, he replied in a panic: "It's the commander of the front army, General Goldov. He said that Huth's 4th Armored Group Army had set off from Kotelnikovo and pounced on Stalinger from the south. Le. But currently, no troops of our army have been found on their way forward, so he decided to transfer Colonel Kolobtin’s troops to fortify themselves.”
Sokov stared at the map in a daze for a while, then raised his head and said to Chuikov: "Comrade General, if the 29th Division is transferred, then there will be a huge gap in our defense area. I want to ask, should Which force will be deployed to fill this gap?"
"To the north of the 29th Division is Major General Bilyukov's 214th Division. They deployed along the Don River to prevent the German army from crossing the Don River." Chuikov walked to the table and sat down, pointing to the map and said: "And To the south of them is the 255th Independent Cavalry Regiment, and I think they can fill this gap."
Sokov silently calculated the defensive zone of the original 29th Division, and then asked with some concern: "Comrade General, is it a bit too difficult for the cavalry regiment to defend such a large area?"
In response to Sokov's question, Chuikov pondered for a moment and said: "It doesn't matter. Various signs show that the Germans will not choose this place as a key offensive area, because our cavalry regiment will take over the defense here. The role is not to hold on, but to serve as a vigilant in this area.”
After Chuikov finished speaking, he asked the staff: "When should Colonel Kolobtin's troops set off?"
"Tomorrow morning, Comrade Commander." the staff officer replied respectfully.
"Can I get in touch with them now?" Chuikov then asked: "I want to speak to Colonel Kolobtin."
"Sure," the staff officer answered, and before Chuikov asked again, he took the initiative and said, "I will help you get through to the division headquarters of the 29th Division immediately."
After the call was connected, Chuikov took the microphone from the staff officer's hand, put it to his ear and said: "Comrade Colonel, you are going to a new defensive zone soon. How about it? Are you ready to go?"
"How can it be so easy, Comrade Commander." Kolobtin on the other end of the phone said with a sad face: "Although we were ordered to set off before this evening, some troops are too scattered. It will take a lot of time to regroup them. There is little time, so we can only postpone the departure time until tomorrow morning."
Kolobtin thought that Chuikov's call to him at this time was definitely not for chatting, but there must be something important. He quickly asked: "Comrade Commander, what are your instructions?"
"Since you are leaving, you must hand over the defense area." Chuikov said slowly: "After careful consideration, I decided to let the 255th Independent Cavalry Regiment take over your defense."
"What, the cavalry regiment?" Kolobtin couldn't help but become nervous when he heard what Chuikov said: "Comrade Commander, as far as I know, there are only seven or eight hundred people in the cavalry regiment. It is appropriate for them to take over the defense of such a large area. ? If attacked by the Germans, they will not be able to stop them at all."
"Don't worry, Colonel Kolobtin." Chuikov comforted the other party and said: "In my estimation, the German army may not attack there. What they have to do is to serve as a guard in that area. To say the least, even if the German army attacks After withdrawing the cavalry regiment, they can also retreat into the 118th fortification area and re-establish new defenses."
After Chuikov explained some precautions to the other party, he put down the phone and said to Sokov: "Chief of Staff, how is our defense situation along the Aksay River?"
"Comrade General," upon hearing Chuikov's question about the defense line, Sokov quickly pushed the map in front of him and then said: "According to the latest statistics, the troops of the 138th and 157th Divisions have already moved along the A defense line five kilometers wide and three kilometers deep was built on the north bank of the Aksay River; the 208th Division, which returned with us, has now gradually entered the defensive positions designated for them..."
"Wait a minute, Comrade Chief of Staff." Chuikov interrupted before Sokov could finish his words: "Do you think our defense line on the north bank of the Aksay River can stop the enemy?"
"There is no doubt about it, Comrade General." Sokov replied: "It can definitely be blocked."
When Sokov answered this question in such a positive tone, Chuikov looked at him in surprise: "Comrade Chief of Staff, are you really so confident?"
"We have planted a large number of explosives on the road bridges and railway bridges across the Aksay River. As soon as the German troops arrive at the bridge, we will blow up the bridge immediately." Sokov waited for Chuikov to finish and immediately Explained to him: "The German troops rushing to the river cannot carry any river-crossing equipment. As long as the bridge is blown up, they will be blocked on the other side of the river. If they want to rely on rubber boats and wooden beds to forcefully cross the Aksay River If they do, we will make them pay a heavy price."
"Both bridges were planted with explosives?" Hearing what Sokov said, Chuikov asked in surprise: "When did this happen? Why didn't I know?"
"Comrade General," Sokov replied quickly and respectfully: "Before we set off to find the 208th Division, I specially arranged for the engineer company commander to do so."
"To blow up two bridges, a lot of explosives must be needed." Chuikov looked at Sokov and asked suspiciously: "I want to ask, where did you find so many explosives?"
"Where else, Comrade General?" Sokov replied with a smile: "Of course from the warehouse of the City Defense Committee. There is no other unit that can provide such a huge amount of explosives in Stalingrad except them. Number."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I really didn't expect it." Chuikov said with some surprise: "You actually know people from the City Defense Committee."
"After our brigade arrived at Mamayev Hill, people from the City Defense Committee assisted us in building fortifications." Sokov said calmly: "After we have been dealing with each other for a long time, we naturally know a few people who can be useful. friend."
Chuikov raised his hand to look at his watch and said to Sokov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you must be tired these past two days. Hurry up and take a nap. Otherwise, by the time dawn comes, you won't have time to sleep even if you want to."
Early the next morning, Sokov, who was still sleeping, was awakened by the rumble of explosions in the distance. He quickly ran into the headquarters, only to find that Chuikov was not there. He quickly grabbed the staff officer and asked, "Where did Comrade General go?"
The staff officer pointed outside and said: "Comrade Commander and his adjutant went to the hill in front, as if to observe some movement." Sokov secretly screamed in pain, thinking that the Germans had already launched an attack. , and he was still soundly asleep, seeing that he, the chief of staff, was really incompetent.
When Sokov reached the small mound more than 200 meters away after jogging, he saw Chuikov looking into the distance with a telescope. Sokov came behind him and asked cautiously: "Comrade General, what happened? Where was the explosion?"
Chuikov pointed forward and said: "Just ahead of the Aksay River, the marching 29th Division is being bombed and strafed by German aircraft."
Sokov quickly raised the telescope hanging around his neck and looked into the distance. He saw four German aircraft hovering above the Aksay River, swooping down from high altitudes from time to time, dropping bombs and shooting at ground troops. Straf. The 29th Division troops that were attacked by air attacks fell into chaos. The commanders and fighters fled the road one after another and ran to the grassland nearby, trying to avoid the enemy planes' attack. However, the grassland was unobstructed, and the commanders and fighters who escaped from the road still paid a heavy price under bombing and strafing by enemy planes.
Seeing this, Sokov quickly put down his telescope and asked Chuikov who was standing aside: "Comrade General, what should we do now? Can we find a way to help them?"
"It's useless, Comrade Chief of Staff." Chuikov said weakly: "We are four or five kilometers away from them. By the time we rushed over, the enemy plane had already flown away. I only hope that Kolobtin can get there in time. Evacuate the soldiers and hide them so that the casualties of the troops can be reduced as much as possible."
After finally waiting for the enemy plane to fly away, the 29th Division, which paid a heavy price, began to gather its troops again. Chuikov sighed and said to Sokov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, let's go back to the headquarters. I believe Colonel Kolobtin can complete the rest of the aftermath."
As soon as the two returned to the headquarters with Klimov, the staff officer hurried over and said with some excitement: "Comrade Commander, it's bad, something happened."
The staff officer's words made Chuikov nervous, and he quickly asked: "What happened?"
"Comrade Commander, according to Colonel Lyudnikov's report, a German tank unit is rushing towards the Aksay River." The staff officer said worriedly: "It is only three kilometers away from the river bank."
"Damn it," Chuikov couldn't help but frowned when he heard what the staff officer said: "How did these enemies come so fast?" After finishing speaking, he paused for a moment and then asked, "What did Colonel Lyudnikov do?" Measures?"
"Yes, he has already contacted the engineers. He will blow up the bridge as soon as the German tanks drive onto the bridge." The staff officer said with a serious expression: "We must not allow the enemy to use our bridge to rush to the north bank smoothly. .”
Knowing that Lyudnikov was ready to blow up the bridge, Sokov suddenly remembered something and quickly said to Chuikov: "Comrade General, the bridge cannot be blown up yet. My third battalion is on the south bank. If we blow it up, Once the bridge explodes, their escape route will be cut off.”
"It's too late, Comrade Chief of Staff." Chuikov shook his head and said with a look of regret: "The distance of three kilometers is only ten minutes for German tanks. Even if you want to withdraw the third battalion , but before they could finish gathering, the Germans had already rushed to the north bank of the Aksay River."
Sokov had already picked up the phone and was about to call Andre and ask him to lead his troops to withdraw to the north bank immediately. But when Chuikov said this, he had to put down the phone. He very much agreed with Chuikov's statement. Even if the third battalion had been preparing for war, it would take at least an hour to assemble them and bring them to the north bank. Therefore, he could only place his hope on Andre's body, hoping that he can bring the troops out smoothly.
But without informing Andrei, putting his troops in danger like this, Sokov couldn't do this kind of thing. He thought for a long time and finally decided to call Andre, hoping that the other party would be prepared. So he picked up the phone again and asked the communications soldier to connect to Andre's battalion command post.
As soon as he heard Andre's voice, Sokov said hurriedly: "Captain Andre, something is wrong. A German armored unit is quickly rushing towards the bridge on the Aksay River. In order to stop They passed the bridge, and we must make a prompt decision and take necessary measures to blow up the bridge so that the enemy cannot easily cross the Aksay River."
"Comrade Brigadier," even though Sokov is now the Chief of Staff of the Southern Group, Andrei is still used to calling him Brigadier: "Comrade Brigadier, so to speak, our battalion cannot do anything before blowing up the bridge." Back to the North Shore. I want to ask, what is our next move?"
"Comrade Captain, after the two bridges on the river are blown up, you will immediately move the troops to the west." Sokov said carefully: "Find a suitable place to cross the river, and cross the river back to the north bank. I am here need you."
"Understood, Comrade Brigadier." Andre replied resolutely: "Please rest assured that I will resolutely implement your orders and will return to the north bank smoothly with the troops."
Just as Sokov hung up the phone, two dull explosions suddenly came from the distance. At the same time, he felt the ground beneath his feet shake. He quickly picked up the phone and asked the communications soldier to connect to Lyudnikov's command post. He said straight to the point: "Comrade Colonel, this is Chief of Staff Sokov. What happened with the explosion just now?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Liudnikov quickly reported, "the two explosions you just heard were caused by our engineers blowing up the railway bridge and road bridge over the Aksay River. Once the bridge was broken, the German troops crossed not coming."
Sokov thought to himself: "Yes, the Germans will not be able to get through, but my troops will also not be able to come back. I hope Andre can control the troops well and lead them to a suitable location. The Aksay River in front of us.”
