Sokov knew very well that when the Stalingrad meat grinder was about to start operating, the loss of personnel would be unimaginable. The average survival time of the soldiers who came here was no more than 24 hours, and the officers only lived for 72 hours. It will be extremely difficult for you to replenish your troops in the future, so you must take advantage of the fact that the troops are not too nervous now and try every means to enrich your troops with various troops.
Out of such considerations, Sokov immediately agreed to Belkin's proposal: "Since the political commissar comrades said so, then Captain Golya will stay with your troops." In order to prevent the other party from rejecting him , he immediately added, "Don't worry, Comrade Captain, I will continue to retain your designation. When the supplementary troops sent by your superiors arrive, your division can be rebuilt immediately."
"Keep the designation?!" When Golya heard what Sokov said, he couldn't help showing a surprised expression on his face: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I would like to ask, how can we retain the designation of our division?"
"Captain Golya, I will not break up your men and organize them into various companies." In order to reassure Golya, Sokov said to him: "Based on the original commanders and fighters of the original 192nd Division, I I will add another 200 people to you and form a new battalion, designated the 192nd Battalion, with you as the battalion commander. How about it, is it okay?"
After listening to Sokov's arrangement, the expression on Golya's face became relaxed. He shook his head and replied: "No problem, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel. I will resolutely obey your arrangement."
"Captain Golya, why are you still calling him Comrade Lieutenant Colonel?" Belkin said with a smile: "From now on, you are already a member of our 73rd Infantry Brigade, you should call him Brigadier." .”
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Captain Golya said in an obedient manner and immediately changed his address to Sokov: "I wonder where you plan to deploy our battalion?"
"Anyway, the training time of the guard company has been greatly reduced recently. That area is empty, so why not station your battalion there first." Sokov said, "When the time is right, we will adjust your accommodation. .”
"Comrade Brigadier, even if our battalion only has more than 300 people now, to house them, we need at least sixty or seventy tents." Golia asked with some worry: "I wonder how many tents the brigade headquarters can provide us? "
Since most of the troops of the infantry brigade have now entered the tunnel, the tents where they used to live are now empty. When Sokov heard Golya mention the tents, he ordered Sidorin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, don't we have a lot of empty tents now? First allocate eighty to the comrades of the 192nd Battalion so that they can have A good place to rest.”
Golia thought that after he made the request, Sokov could provide him with thirty tents, which was already the limit. In his heart, he had even made plans to let ten soldiers squeeze into one tent. I didn't expect that the other party was so generous and promised to give me eighty tents in one fell swoop. He quickly said gratefully: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I represent the 192nd Division...no, all the commanders and fighters of the 192nd Battalion, thank you!"
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov continued to say to Sidorin after solving the accommodation problem for Golia's 192nd Battalion: "As soon as possible, transfer no less than two hundred people from other battalions to the 192nd Battalion to ensure that They can re-form a strong fighting force in the shortest possible time."
"Comrade Brigadier, I suggest that the soldiers of the 192nd Battalion be recruited from the 1st, 2nd and 4th Battalions." As the chief of staff, Sidorin knows the strength of each battalion in the brigade best. After Cove finished speaking, he took the initiative to propose to the other party: "The third battalion has the smallest number of troops, so I think we won't deploy them for the time being."
Just as the soldiers of the 192nd Battalion were setting up tents in the area arranged for them, the roar of aircraft engines suddenly came from the air. As soon as these soldiers who had just withdrawn from the right bank of the Don River heard this sound, they immediately instinctively looked for a place to hide.
The soldiers of the guard company who were temporarily recruited to help couldn't help laughing when they saw the embarrassed look of their new comrades. There is that kind of warm-hearted soldier who shouts to his comrades who are looking for cover: "Don't worry, don't worry, it's a German reconnaissance plane, there is no danger."
Hearing the shouts of the soldiers from the guard company, the frightened soldiers gradually calmed down. They stood up from their hiding place, looked up into the sky, and saw clearly the enemy plane hovering in the sky. It turned out to be an unarmed reconnaissance plane. Their hearts hanging in their throats were put back into their stomachs.
Sokov heard the sound of the aircraft engine, walked out of the tent, looked into the sky and asked Sidorin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the enemy's reconnaissance planes visit Mamayev Heights every day, you said they discovered what we built Have the fortifications been completed?”
"The surface fortifications on the hillside must have been detected. As for the fortifications in the tunnels, unless the German pilots have clairvoyant eyes, they cannot be discovered at all." When Sidorin said this, he suddenly said with a little hesitation: "But..."
Seeing that Sidorin was hesitant to speak, Sokov asked anxiously: "But what? Comrade Chief of Staff, if you have anything to say, just say it all at once. Don't leave half of it and make people anxious." "
"Comrade Brigadier, the tunnel connecting the north and south slopes has not been completely completed so far." Sidorin replied: "There is no problem with the tunnel using the secret digging method. German pilots will never be able to discover it. . However, the tunnel using the open-cut method has been repeatedly reconnoitred by German reconnaissance planes. I am worried that once the battle starts near Mamayev Hill, the location of that tunnel will become the focus of German bombing."
Regarding Sidorin's worries, Sokov waved his hand and said nonchalantly: "Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff. Even if the enemy discovers the tunnel using the open-cut method, they won't care. They may even take it. Treat it as a trench or anti-tank trench dug by us, and we won't waste their precious bombs casually."
Seeing the reconnaissance plane circling in circles over Mamayev Heights, Sokov said to Sidorin and Belkin who were standing aside: "There is nothing to see, let's go back to the tent first."
The three of them had just walked into the tent when a rumble of cannons suddenly sounded outside. Hearing this voice, Sokov's heart sank suddenly, and he thought to himself: Could it be that the Germans started shelling Mamayev Heights? But he soon discovered that no vibrations were felt on the ground, and the sound of gunfire came from the air.
"Hell, this is the anti-aircraft artillery deployed on the dock, firing at the enemy's reconnaissance plane." Sokov roared dissatisfied and rushed out of the tent, raised his head and looked into the air, and sure enough he saw the surroundings of the reconnaissance plane. Black puffs of smoke bloomed, but were quickly blown away by the wind.
"Comrade Brigadier, what happened?" Belkin saw Sokov rushing out of the tent, thinking that something had happened, and rushed out after him. When he saw the smoke blooming in the sky, he couldn't help but smile and said: "Great, our anti-aircraft artillery is really great. As long as they can shoot down the enemy's reconnaissance planes, no enemy planes will dare to appear in Ma'an." Over Mayev Hills."
"How can the anti-aircraft artillery fire casually?" After seeing the German reconnaissance plane driven away by gunfire, Sokov said angrily: "It's just a reconnaissance plane. There are at least five more anti-aircraft guns firing now. This is not Exposing the target?" He turned to ask Sidorin, who had just walked out of the tent, "Chief of Staff, what is the number of the anti-aircraft artillery deployed on the dock?"
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Sidorin quickly replied: "It's the 1077th Women's Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment. The regiment leader is Lieutenant Colonel Gorman. His headquarters is located in the building next to our health team."
"Comrade Brigadier, what do you want to do?" Belkin and Sokov spent a lot of time together. When he asked this, I guessed that he must be thinking of the anti-aircraft artillery regiment and go talk to Commander Gorman. , quickly stopped him and said: "The anti-aircraft artillery regiment and our defense area are just adjacent to each other, but they have no affiliation. Even if you go, what the other party says to you will not be taken seriously."
"Once a battle breaks out here, we must rely on them for air defense." Sokov straightened the helmet on his head and continued: "But if the anti-aircraft artillery regiment suffers unnecessary losses because it exposes its target prematurely, Our officers and soldiers can only squat in the fortifications and get bombed every day!"
"In that case, Comrade Brigade Commander, I will accompany you." Belkin was worried that Sokov had entered someone else's territory and would get angry at the other party's commander for such a thing, so he offered to go with him. "As for matters in the brigade, leave them to the chief of staff to take full responsibility."
The anti-aircraft artillery regiment's station is not far from Sokov's brigade headquarters, only a ten-minute walk away.
There were two female soldiers standing guard at the door of the regiment command post. When they saw two friendly commanders approaching, they quickly blocked their way and asked politely: "Comrade commanders, which unit are you from? What happened here?"
"I am Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade, and this is my political commissar Belkin. Our troops are stationed at Mamayev Heights." After introducing himself, Sokov asked the person standing in front of him. The female soldier in front of her: "I have something urgent and I want to see your regiment leader, Lieutenant Colonel Gorman. Is he in there?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander, the regiment commander is resting inside." After learning the identities of Sokov and Belkin, the female soldier quickly said respectfully: "Please wait here for a moment, I will go in and report One sound."
The female soldier walked out less than two minutes after entering, and an elderly lieutenant colonel came out with her. Sokov first raised his hand to salute the other party, and said politely: "Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Gorman, I am Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade, and I came here specifically to visit you. This is This is my political commissar Belkin."
"Hello, comrades, commanders." After Gorman raised his hand in return, he asked curiously: "I heard from my subordinates that you have something to do with me?"
"Yes, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I have something to talk to you about." Sokov glanced at the female soldier standing guard at the door from the corner of his eye: "Can we go in and talk again?"
"Please come in, two comrades, commanders." Gorman invited the two of them into his room, asked them to sit down on the bench next to the wall, tidied up the somewhat messy camp bed, and then turned around and asked them Person: "I wonder if you have come to see me specially. Is there anything important you have to do?"
"That's it, Comrade Commander." Belkin was worried that Sokov might ruin the matter by talking directly to the other party, so he said first: "When the enemy's reconnaissance plane was conducting reconnaissance over Mamayev Heights today, you The anti-aircraft artillery regiment used no less than five anti-aircraft guns for bombardment.”
"With this in mind, we cannot let the enemy's reconnaissance planes roam around the Volga River unbridled." Gorman was originally sleeping, but the rumble of gunfire woke him up. After he woke up, he inquired at the door and learned that it was his anti-aircraft gunner who was attacking the German reconnaissance plane, and then went back to sleep with his head covered. "Why, two comrades, commanders, is your arrival related to our attack on the German reconnaissance plane?"
"Yes, it is indeed like this." It was Sokov who spoke this time. He said to Gorman: "German reconnaissance planes fly to Mamayev Heights every day. Whatever they want to detect, I am afraid they have already detected it." That's almost it. But your unauthorized firing today has exposed all your anti-aircraft gun emplacements. Once the German army bombs the Mamayev Heights area, I'm worried that your area will become the focus of the attack."
Gorman actually laughed after Sokov finished speaking. After he finished laughing, he said to Sokov: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I think it is necessary to remind you that since we are anti-aircraft artillery, the only thing we can do to deal with enemy planes that appear over the defense zone is to use artillery. Blow it down, or drive it away from a distance.
As for your concern that the enemy will use our area as a key bombing area, that's great. We can take advantage of the gathering of enemy bombers to shoot down more enemy planes to ensure safety over the city. "
This meeting ended on bad terms. Sokov walked away indignantly, and Belkin and Gorman chased after him after saying a few words. He caught up with Sokov and said to him: "Comrade Brigade Commander, don't be angry. The anti-aircraft artillery regiment is not under our jurisdiction. They are free to fire whenever they want, and we have no right to interfere."
"I understand, Comrade Political Commissar, I understand everything you said." Sokov said helplessly: "In order to expel a reconnaissance plane today, at least five anti-aircraft artillery positions of the anti-aircraft artillery regiment were exposed. I'm worried What is certain is that in the near future, the German army will carry out bombing here, and those exposed anti-aircraft artillery positions will bear the brunt."
Belkin sighed and said helplessly: "Comrade Brigade Commander, under the current circumstances, we only need to do a good job in our own air defense. As for other friendly forces, let everything take its course."
