After some hard work, the troops sent by Sokov gathered more than 600 commanders and fighters of the 35th Guards Division, including Deputy Division Commander Dubyansky.
When Dubyansky stood in front of Chuikov and reported to him that there were only more than 600 commanders and fighters gathered, Chuikov felt uncomfortable in his heart and covered his chest with his hands. Sidorin and Chuikov had been together for a long time, so he knew that Chuikov must have had an attack of stomach trouble again. He quickly stepped forward to support him and told a staff officer not far away: "Comrade staff officer, go to the health team to get some stomach medicine." , Comrade Commander’s stomach trouble occurred again.”
Sokov hurriedly stepped forward and helped Sidorin help Chuikov sit down. Then he poured a cup of hot tea and handed it to Chuikov: "Comrade Commander, please drink some tea to warm your stomach first, and the pain will not be so severe." ”
After Chuikov thanked Sokov, he took a sip from the tea cup, put it on the table, and then asked Dubyansky: "Comrade Colonel, how did you fight this battle? There are more than 8,000 people in the division. Now there are only more than 600 people left, and even the division commander was killed?"
"Comrade Commander, when our division broke out from the enemy's encirclement, it suffered casualties of almost one-third of the troops. Without receiving any reinforcements, it once again went into battle in the factory area..." Du In the middle of speaking, Bianski reacted belatedly: "Wait a minute, Comrade Commander, what did you just say? The division commander was killed in action? Is this true?"
"That's right." Chuikov nodded vigorously, turned to look at Sokov, and said in a serious tone: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov sent someone to pick up Glazkov, but when they found him, he was already seriously injured. . No matter his legs were broken by the shells, a few pieces of shrapnel even hit his chest, smashing his lungs. Although he was rescued immediately after he was brought here, he still couldn't save his life. .”
"Comrade Commander," Dubyansky said emotionally, "Where is the body of Comrade Division Commander? I want to see him for the last time."
Sokov walked to the door, shouted outside, called Seryosha in, and ordered: "Seryosa, take this man to the health team and arrange for him to see General Glazkov. body." Then he said to Dubyansky, "Comrade Colonel, please leave for the lieutenant, he will take you to see General Glazkov."
After Seryosha left with Dubyansky, Chuikov picked up the tea in front of him, took another sip, and asked: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, after the German army defeated the 35th Guards Division, what will happen next?" Make two choices. One is to directly attack the factory area and eliminate the militia forces there; the other is to attack Mamayev Hill and cut off the connection between the urban area and the factory area. Have you considered how to fight the next battle? Pass?"
"Comrade Commander, please rest assured." Sokov knew very well in his heart that in real history, the reason why Mamayev Hill was easily occupied by the German army was that, first, there were no solid defenses on the hill, and second, It is Chuikov who cannot mobilize enough troops for the defense of this position. Now that he is stationed here with thousands of troops, and there are underground fortifications that are difficult to destroy by German artillery fire and bombing, there should not be much problem in holding Mamayev Heights. Therefore, he said with confidence: "As long as there is a living soldier in our brigade, the Germans will not even think about capturing Mamayev Hill."
Seeing Sokov's confidence, Chuikov stared at him for a long time before nodding and said: "I believe you, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov. If I remember correctly, you proposed a German military meeting a few months ago. Pointing the spearhead of the attack at Mamayev Hill, I took the initiative to lead troops to hold on here. Now that you have solid underground fortifications and sufficient troops, I feel that no matter how fierce the German offensive is, they will not be able to seize your position. An easy thing.”
After Dubyansky came back from the health team, he asked Chuikov with red eyes: "Comrade Commander, can you not withdraw our division to the east coast for the time being to replenish it? We will stay to avenge the division commander!"
Facing Dubyansky's heroic words, Chuikov just sneered and asked: "Comrade Colonel, there are only more than 600 people left in your division. Even if you can barely stay, how can you fight in the next battle?" To what effect?"
After hearing Chuikov's taunt, Dubyansky's face couldn't help but turn red and white, but he still mustered up the courage to say: "I think about it this way. If the superiors still insist on us withdrawing to the other side of the Volga River, I will Only carry the wounded across the river and leave behind those warriors who can still fight. They all have rich combat experience and will be useful in the coming battles."
Chuikov was moved by Dubyansky's words. He frowned and began to think about whether he should keep the combat-effective soldiers of the 35th Guards Division. Sokov, who was standing aside, was deeply afraid that Chuikov would be impulsive and leave behind those soldiers who were still capable of fighting, so he said to Dubyansky: "No, comrade colonel, not a single commander and fighter of the Guards Division can be left behind." , but we should immediately cross the river to the east bank according to the orders from our superiors."
Not only was Dubyansky dumbfounded by Sokov's statement, but even Chuikov looked confused. He looked at Sokov and asked in confusion: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, why do you want them all to cross the river? Isn't it okay to leave some of the commanders and fighters who are still capable of combat to enrich your troops?"
To be honest, Sokov did let some soldiers with combat experience stay, so as to ensure the combat effectiveness of the troops. But when he thought that the troops here would be transferred to the rear for reinforcement, he gave up the idea. When he heard Chuikov's question, he explained: "Comrade Commander, the 35th Guards Division has withdrawn to the rear for reinforcement. The superiors will give The soldiers they add must be new recruits. If there is no combat backbone in the army, then even if they add enough people, it will be difficult to form combat effectiveness in the shortest possible time."
After Chuikov heard Sokov's explanation, he nodded silently, and then said to Dubyansky: "Comrade Colonel, have you heard it? Judging from the current situation, you should take all the commanders and combatants across the river. . As long as the combat backbone of the army is still there, even if your superiors add new recruits to you, you will be able to form new combat effectiveness in the shortest possible time."
"Okay, Comrade Commander, since you said so, then I will take all the troops to the other side of the river." After Dubyansky finished speaking, he hesitated for a moment and then said: "I I have a request, I wonder if you can agree to it."
"If you have any requests, just ask." Seeing that the other party agreed to allow everyone to cross the river, Chuikov said reasonably: "As long as it is within my ability, I will definitely agree to it."
"I want to take the division commander's body across the river." Dubyansky asked cautiously: "Is it possible?" When raising this question, his eyes were fixed on Sokov, who was standing next to Chuikov.
Sokov knew that during the Battle of Stalingrad, due to the fierce fighting, the bodies of many fallen soldiers could not be buried in time, and they could only be left to die on the streets. Lyudnikov's 138th Division dug several thousand-man pits to bury the fallen soldiers. When relatives came to claim the remains after the war, they could not tell them apart at all. If Glazkov's body had been left in Stalingrad, it is estimated that his relatives would not be able to accurately find his body by the end of the war. In view of this consideration, Sokov simply agreed to Dubyansky's request: "Comrade Colonel, if the commander has no objection, I will immediately arrange for soldiers to carry out the body of General Glazkov."
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, on behalf of all the living and dead commanders and soldiers in the division, I would like to express my gratitude to you." After Dubyansky finished speaking, he raised his hand to give Sokov a solemn military salute. Sokov also raised his hand to return the salute in panic. .
…………
According to Chuikov's idea, after the German army occupied the position of the 35th Guards Division, it was time to attack Mamayev Heights. After all, the two places were only a few kilometers apart. Then what is unexpected is that the German army dispatched a large number of bombers the next day and carried out saturation bombing of the entire city of Stalingrad.
At the beginning of the bombing, Sokov ordered all commanders and fighters in the entire brigade to retreat into the tunnels in order to reduce the casualties of the troops. At the beginning, Sokov showed no concern in the face of the German bombing, so above his head, there was a layer of soil seven or eight meters behind, and many places in the tunnel fortifications were reinforced with reinforced concrete. Ordinary bombs have no way to deal with this fortification.
However, when the first batch of bombs landed on Mamayev Heights and exploded, Sokov was shocked and was covered in white hair. In order to deal with their own tunnels, the German army actually used heavy bombs. He thought to himself, not the kind of bombs that can penetrate the ground. In ordinary battles in a confined space like tunnels, the power of the explosion will be greatly increased. If a heavy bomb got into the tunnel, it would definitely cause considerable casualties to the thousands of commanders and fighters inside.
Sidorin saw the soil falling continuously from above his head, and couldn't help but said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, it's not enough for us to just hide in the tunnel and be bombed passively. If we allow the German planes to continue to bomb , I'm worried that many areas will be blown up. How about we organize machine gun fire and shoot from the air outside the tunnel. Even if we only need to shoot down one or two planes, we can reduce some dangers."
Regarding Sidorin's proposal, Sokov only pondered for a moment before nodding in agreement: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately organize a group of machine gun shooters to carry G34 machine guns outside the tunnel for air-to-air shooting. We cannot be passively beaten like this! "
As the order was issued, a group of machine gunners carrying G34 general machine guns came out from the east exit. After setting up their machine guns at different locations, they immediately continued shooting at the enemy planes flying in the air. The sudden firepower on the ground caught the enemy planes that were diving to drop bombs off guard. A moment later, two enemy planes dragged long smoke ribbons and flew into the distance. They flew not far away. Then he fell to the ground, a huge fireball rose up, and made an earth-shattering explosion. Seeing the anti-aircraft fire on the ground, the other aircraft raised their altitude to prevent themselves from being shot down.
When the machine gun was firing outside the tunnel, Belkin suggested to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, there are several anti-aircraft guns from the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion at the foot of the mountain over at Beigan. Do you want to see if they can also participate?" shooting?"
"No, those female soldiers have little combat experience. Letting them go for air defense at this time is equivalent to letting them die." Sokov shook his head and rejected Belgin's proposal, and said to himself: " Besides, our troops in Beigang are also equipped with a lot of G34 machine guns, allowing them to deal with German aircraft."
Just when Sidorin wanted to call the Fourth Battalion in Beigang and ask them to organize machine gunners for air defense outside the tunnel, the phone rang first. Sidorin picked up the phone, and the voice of Fourth Battalion Commander Briski came from the receiver: "Comrade Chief of Staff, it's bad, the bomb dropped by the enemy detonated the oil tank on the top of the mountain, and the entire hill has turned into a sea of fire. …”
"What, the German bomb detonated the oil tank on the top of the mountain?" After listening to Briski's report, Sidorin couldn't help but break into a cold sweat: "Didn't the people from the City Defense Committee say that they had drained all the fuel from the oil tank? Is it empty?”
"The oil tanks they emptied were only a small part. Most of the oil tanks still had fuel in them." Briskey said anxiously: "I just saw the burning oil flowing down the east hillside. They entered the Volga River and floated downstream along the river. There were burning flames everywhere on the river. Many boats crossing the river began to burn, and people on board jumped into the water to escape... A small boat transporting arms was detonated by the high temperature and sank. …”
Hearing that people who crossed the river jumped into the water to escape, Sokov knew that the chances of these people surviving were low. Even if they were not washed away by the rushing river, they would be burned to death by the fuel floating down the river. He sighed, stepped forward and took the microphone from Sidorin's hand, and asked: "Comrade Captain, is there anyone at the dock to rescue people who have fallen into the water?"
"No, Comrade Brigadier." Briski recognized Sokov's voice and quickly replied: "According to my observation, German planes are not only bombing our Mamayev Hills, but also the factory area to the north. , the city in the south has also been bombed by a large number of bombers. Now the whole city is burning, and everyone is too busy to take care of themselves. Where can we mobilize the power to rescue..."
"I understand, Comrade Captain." Sokov knew that Beigang had been burned into a sea of flames by burning oil. It was already impossible for them to go outside the tunnel for air defense. On the contrary, was it safe to stay in Beigang? , is also a big problem, so he continued to ask: "Is it dangerous for you to stay in the tunnel?"
Briski replied: "The tunnel near the Volga River is already too hot to treat people, so I have ordered the soldiers in that area to withdraw to the main tunnel."
"Captain Briski," Sokov not only did not criticize Briski's arrangement, but took the initiative to say: "If you feel that you can't stay in Beigang any longer, you can withdraw your troops from the tunnel to the tunnel in Nangang. Come."
