Sokov knew very well in his heart that the reason Chuikov sent Little Cidolin here to deliver the order was simply to find a reason to reunite father and son, so as to avoid lifelong regrets for both parties. He said that he would only give Sidorin and his son half an hour to reminisce about old times, but when the time came, no one was sent to urge them.
Sidorin was also a sensible person. Seeing that no one came to urge him, he guessed that everyone was planning to give his father and son more time to talk. But even if no one urged him, he always kept his responsibilities in mind and could not delay his official duties due to personal matters. Therefore, when the time came, he returned to the headquarters with his son Little Sidolin and said to Sokov, "Comrade Brigade Commander, it's getting late. You and Little Sidolin should go to the headquarters. Don't let Comrade Commander wait." Anxious."
After Sokov and Little Sidorin left, Belkin asked Sidorin in a reproachful tone, "Comrade Chief of Staff, it's not like you don't know what the current situation is like. Maybe today is the last time your father and son will meet. Why not more?" Let’s chat for a while?”
"Comrade Political Commissar, I appreciate the kindness of you and the brigade commander." Sidorin looked at Belgin and said gratefully, "I am a soldier and I have long been prepared to shed blood and sacrifice for the motherland. But the only thing It’s a pity that I’m just worried about my child’s safety. I’m satisfied to see him safe and sound today. How could I delay my work due to personal matters?”
Hearing what Sidorin said, Belkin nodded slightly and said, "The commander called the brigade commander to the headquarters. I don't know when he will come back. You will be fully responsible for the work here."
"Don't worry, Comrade Political Commissar." Sidorin regained his usual confidence, "I believe our soldiers will hold their position. But before that, we should follow the brigade commander's order and build a ring on the top of the hillside of Nangang of fortifications.”
…………
Sokov followed Sidorin to the location of the new headquarters. He originally thought that Chuikov's headquarters would most likely be located on the ground. But when he arrived at the location, he realized that he had guessed wrong. The new headquarters was a few holes dug on the steep river bank. Since there could not be too many people inside, many staff members stayed on barges parked by the river.
Sidorin led Sokov into a cave and said to the people inside, "Comrade Commander, I have been ordered to bring Lieutenant Colonel Sokov here."
With the help of the illumination of indoor lanterns, Sokov saw clearly that Chuikov and Krylov were standing at a table. He quickly stepped forward, raised his hands to salute the two men, and respectfully reported, "Comrade Commander, the Infantry Division Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, commander of the 73rd Brigade, has been ordered to come, I am waiting for your orders, please give instructions!"
"It's Sokov here," Chuikov stepped forward and held Sokov's hand, greeting him warmly, "Please sit down quickly."
After Sokov sat down, he looked around the cave and saw that there was no one else except Chuikov, Krylov, Gurov and a few communication soldiers. So he curiously asked, "Comrade Commander, what are you doing there?" Where did General Timtsev go?"
"He went to the 42nd Guards Regiment." Krylov put a cup of hot tea in front of Sokov and continued, "He just left not long ago. Why, you didn't meet him on the road?"
"No." Sokov shook his head and replied, "Some of them were missed somewhere on the road." He paused for a moment, and then asked, "Comrade Commander, Chief of Staff, I don't know why you asked me to come here. Mission?"
Chuikov raised his chin at Krylov and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, show that combat order to Lieutenant Colonel Sokov."
Krylov nodded, pulled out a piece of paper from a document bag hanging on the wall, walked up to Sokov, and said to him, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, take a look at this order first. , and then we will assign tasks to you."
Sokov took the combat order from Krylov's hand, and saw that it read "...In order to crush the enemy group attacking Stalingrad, I order you to cooperate with the Stalingrad Front and order the commander of the 62nd Army, Organize an assault group of at least 3 infantry divisions and a tank brigade in the Mamayev Hills area to attack the enemies in the northwest suburbs of Stalingrad and annihilate them in this area. The task that day was to effectively protect Lenok behind the scenes. Destroy the enemies in the city on the premise of the Orlovka area, heights 128 and 98.9, and the northwest and western suburbs of Stalingrad.
The artillery director of the front army was ordered to use a powerful artillery attack to ensure that the 62nd Army carried out an assault in the area starting from Gorodishe and Gumlak on the right and reaching the Tsaritsa River on the right.
From 19:00 on September 18, 1942, the Gorishny Infantry Division was included in the establishment of the 62nd Army.
Ordered the commander of the 62nd Army to cross the Volga River to Stalingrad from the northern ferry near the village of "Red October" before 5:00 on September 19, 1942, and use this force to move from Highland 102 launched an assault on the northwest suburbs of the city. ..." At the end of the order were the signatures of Yeremenko and Khrushchev.
After reading the combat order, Sokov handed it back to Krylov, looked at Chuikov and asked, "Comrade Commander, our brigade has suffered more than 3,000 casualties in the past few days of fighting. I'm afraid we won't be able to spare any troops." Participate in such a counterattack." The reason why he said first that his troops suffered more than 3,000 casualties was to prevent Chuikov and others from forcibly transferring troops from him to carry out these counterattacks that were destined to fail in order to complete the mission of their superiors.
But the facts soon proved that Sokov was overly worried. Chuikov had no intention of dispatching large troops from Mamayev Heights to participate in the counterattack. He said to Sokov, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I called you here today not to ask your troops to participate in such a counterattack, but for other tasks?"
Knowing that his troops did not have to participate in the doomed counterattack, Sokov's anxious heart returned to his stomach. He quickly asked, "Comrade Commander, can I ask what the mission is?"
"You should have seen in the combat order just now that we are about to launch an attack on the enemy in the north of Stalingrad to cope with the Stalingrad Front commanded by General Rokossovsky." Chuikov pointed at the map and asked Kokov said, "When our troops are engaged in a fierce battle with the enemy, you lead an elite force to pass through the gaps in the enemy's defense lines and go north to meet the Stalingrad Front troops moving south."
Hearing Chuikov repeatedly mention the Stalingrad Front, Sokov felt dumbfounded in his heart. The troops known as the Stalingrad Front are still dozens of kilometers outside the city; while they are stuck inside the city of Stalingrad. The troops belong to the Southeast Front Army.
"Comrade Commander," Sokov thought that if he wanted to pass through the gap between the German defense lines, the size of the unit he led should not be too large, so he asked Chuikov for instructions, "I don't know if the size of the unit I am leading must be large." How many troops should be controlled in number?”
Chuikov thought for a while and replied, "If there are too many people, they will be easily exposed when passing through the enemy's defense lines; if there are too few people, they will not be able to play the necessary role. I think it will only be three hundred people."
As for which unit to lead north, Sokov's first consideration was the third battalion. But then I thought about it, the combat effectiveness of the third battalion is not weak, and they should be reserved for the most difficult moments. In addition, the most suitable candidate is the 192nd Battalion. The commander and combat backbone of the battalion are all former infantrymen. The 192nd Division is full of hatred for the Germans. In addition, they have not allowed them to participate in the war recently. They must be holding a fire in their hearts. Leading them north will definitely bring their combat effectiveness to the limit.
Just when Sokov saw that the task had been assigned and was about to stand up to leave, the phone on the table suddenly rang. Krylov picked up the receiver and put it to his ear for a moment, then covered the receiver and said to Chuikov, "Comrade Commander, this is the call from Major General Matveyev, Commander of the Artillery of the Front."
After Chuikov heard Krylov's name, he asked impatiently, "What is he going to say this time?"
Sokov on the side listened to Chuikov's words and couldn't help but wonder in his heart. Is there any conflict between the commander and the artillery commander of the front army? In order to understand all this, he did not leave immediately, but stood there and listened carefully to the conversation between the two.
"What else can I say?" Krylov shrugged and said helplessly, "It's not just those words. In order to better attack the enemy, the artillery of the group army should be deployed in Stalingrad, not on the east bank. .”
"Didn't the Army Military Committee make a decision a long time ago," Chuikov continued, "to keep the artillery on the left bank of the Volga River. Only the artillery observation post needs to be deployed on the right bank. The artillery observer can defend the wide front and direct the artillery on the left bank. Firepower is mobile. The only artillery that can be left in the city is mortars and anti-tank guns."
"Comrade General," Krylov waited for Chuikov to finish and then released his hand covering the microphone, "in the city, our artillery group has neither horse-power traction nor mechanical traction. As a result, our artillery Mobility was almost lost. If you think about it, it would be impossible for our artillerymen to push the cannons and howitzers with both hands on the bumpy streets and through the ruins of the urban area.
Moreover, starting from late August, it became very difficult to transport artillery shells from the left bank of the Volga River and then into the city, and sometimes it was completely impossible. Because during the day the enemy monitored all roads leading to the Volga from the east. The enemy's air force and artillery have blocked our crossing area. It is more difficult for us to transport ammunition across the water that is only one kilometer wide than to transport ammunition to the bank of the Volga River from a hundred kilometers away. …”
When Krylov was explaining to Matveyev the benefits of leaving the artillery on the left bank, an idea suddenly came to Sokov's mind. He walked to Chuikov and whispered, "Comrade Commander." , I think several rocket launcher battalions can be deployed in the right bank area."
"Deploy a rocket launcher battalion in the city?" After hearing Sokov's suggestion, Chuikov frowned and said, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I want to ask you, if there are several rocket launcher battalions in the city, what are your plans?" use them properly?”
"Comrade Commander, the layout of your new headquarters gave me a new idea." Sokov took Chuikov to the entrance of the cave and said to him, "We can dig some caves on the steep river embankment. Conceal the rocket launcher truck. Once we discover that the enemy has launched a large-scale attack on our position, our rocket launcher battalion will drive out of the hiding cave to cover the enemy with firepower. After completing the shooting mission, we will return to the hiding cave. Do you think this is okay?"
Sokov did not express his opinion immediately, but stood by the river and carefully observed the nearby embankment. After a long time, he finally nodded and said, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, your proposal is completely feasible. I will contact General Matveyev and ask him to send us several rocket launcher battalions as soon as possible."
Chuikov returned to the cave, quickly came to Krylov's side, took the phone from his hand, and said into the microphone, "Hello, General Matveyev, I am Chuikov. I have I came up with a new idea, you can send us two or three rocket launcher battalions, and we will deploy them in the city to hit the Germans hard."
Krylov suddenly became anxious when he heard what Chuikov said. He lowered his voice and reminded Chuikov, "Comrade Commander, if we really deploy the rocket launcher battalion in the city, they will be overrun by German artillery and aircraft in less than two days." Destroy them, I suggest leaving them on the other side.”
Chuikov didn't even raise his eyelids, but continued to speak into the microphone, "Comrade General, you also know that our counterattack is about to begin. Please be sure to bring the rocket launchers we need to the city tonight and tomorrow."
Krylov waited for Chuikov to put down the phone and said anxiously, "Comrade Commander, have you forgotten the situation in the city? Under the current circumstances, if the artillery is deployed in the city, we will not be able to carry out fire maneuvers at all. It can only make them a target for the enemy.”
"Comrade Chief of Staff." After Chuikov waited for Krylov to finish speaking, he said with a smile, "Didn't you hear clearly just now that what I asked for is a rocket launcher battalion, not cannons or howitzers. You should know very well that a rocket launcher battalion The mobility is very high.”
"But the roads in the city have been severely damaged." Krylov said impatiently, "Even a highly maneuverable rocket launcher will become difficult to move once it reaches the city."
Chuikov turned to look at Sokov, and then said to Krylov, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov suggested to me that we can build caves for rocket launchers to hide on the river embankment. Normally, we hide rocket launchers in caves. When the enemy launches a large-scale attack on our army, the rocket launcher battalion will move out of the cave, establish a position on the river embankment, and provide fire coverage to the enemy who enters the range. After completing the combat mission, they will return to the hiding cave."
After figuring out what was going on, Krylov showed a surprised expression on his face, "Comrade Commander, if this is the case, it is completely feasible to transfer some of the rocket launchers back from the east coast. I believe they used this method of firing. The just-and-run tactic will definitely cause heavy casualties to the enemy."
Seeing that Krylov agreed with his opinion, Chuikov went on to say, "Chief of Staff, you immediately arrange engineers to dig a cave in a suitable location and still build a slope for rocket launchers to attack."
