After Sokov resumed his position as brigade commander, he found that the morale of the troops was somewhat affected due to the recent heavy casualties. Fortunately, Golia and his team's night attack achieved great results and wiped out a German regiment in one fell swoop. Department, completely disrupted the German offensive steps.
Seeing that Goliya and the others had received medals for their night raid, the officers and soldiers who were about to set off behind enemy lines to carry out the raid suddenly became highly motivated. They all hoped that when they returned to Mamayev Heights, they could also Receive a medal or citation.
The morale of the troops suddenly became high, which surprised Belkin, who was in charge of political work. Some time ago, he discovered that the morale of the troops was low, so he and the newly appointed director of the political department, Dmitry, led political workers at all levels in the brigade to talk to the soldiers and do political agitation in an attempt to improve the morale of the troops. However, after a few days of busy work, he sadly discovered that everything he had done had little effect.
He never dreamed that after Sokov returned to his post as brigade commander, he only ordered a small force to conduct a night attack behind enemy lines and achieved a huge victory. The medals received by several commanders and fighters who participated in the battle stimulated the whole life. The officers and soldiers who valued honor more than their lives quickly brought the morale of the troops to an incredible height.
Vitkov silently watched everything that happened at Mamayev Heights, thinking to himself what on earth had I done wrong? Why do we repulse the enemy's attacks every time, but the morale of the troops continues to become low? And just one day after Sokov returned to his command post, the morale of the troops became high again?
"Comrade Colonel," just as Vitkov was thinking wildly, he suddenly heard someone calling him. When he looked up, he saw that it was Sokov. Sokov looked at Vitkov and asked, "Can you accompany me to the top of the hill?"
"No problem." Vitkov readily agreed to Sokov's request, but as soon as he stood up, he saw one of Sokov's hands covering his abdomen. He suddenly remembered that the other party's injury had not yet healed, so he He asked with some hesitation, "Comrade Brigadier, are your injuries okay?"
"It's okay." Sokov replied with a smile. "Actually, my injury should have healed. The reason why I habitually put my hands on my abdomen may be because of habitual actions. I always feel that whenever I move around, the wound will hurt. "
Although Sokov said it was okay, after leaving the headquarters, it was Witkov who helped him along the passage to the top of the hill. When the soldiers who were repairing the fortifications saw the two brigade commanders suddenly appearing in front of them, they quickly stopped what they were doing, straightened their bodies and saluted them with attention.
As the two walked along the communication trench towards the observation post, Sokov tentatively asked Vitkov, "Comrade Colonel, did you get angry when I proposed to the commander that I would resume my position as brigade commander?" For Sokov Witkov didn't say anything about this question and just smiled faintly.
Sokov walked into the observation post and saw only one soldier standing in front of the lookout, raising a telescope to observe the situation in the distance. He casually asked, "How are you doing? Have you seen any trace of the enemy?"
Hearing Sokov's voice, the soldier quickly put down his telescope, turned around, saluted Sokov, and replied, "Report to comrade brigade commander, the enemy positions in the distance are quiet and there is no movement at all."
Sokov waited for the soldier to finish speaking, nodded slightly to show that he understood, and then politely said to him, "Comrade soldier, please go out first, the deputy brigade commander and I still have something to say."
After the soldiers left, Sokov said to Vitkov, "Comrade Colonel, you were helping me command the troops during the time I was injured. I want to express my gratitude to you." After speaking, he raised his hand to Vitkov A solemn military salute was given.
Seeing Sokov's behavior, Vitkov guessed that he must want to have a heart-to-heart talk with him, so he waved his hand and pretended to be generous and said, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you're welcome. In fact, even if I don't come to take charge, For this brigade commander, your superiors will send someone else to take command in your place."
"Colonel," Sokov continued after putting down his hand, "To be honest, during the period when you took over my command, you performed admirably and repelled all the enemy's attacks. So I couldn't wait to return to my post as brigade commander without waiting for the injury to heal, simply because according to your way of fighting, our troops will be wiped out soon..."
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov," Vitkov couldn't help but interrupt Sokov after hearing this, "In war, people always die. In order to defend our great motherland and defeat the invaders, even if we pay No matter how high the price is, I think it is completely worth it.”
"Colonel, you are right. Every commander and fighter of the infantry brigade is ready to shed the last drop of blood for the motherland and the people. However," Sokov said with a normal expression, "if we defend Mamayev All the commanders and fighters on the post were sacrificed, so who will defend the high ground? Once the Mamaev Post is occupied by the enemy, they can quickly rush to the crossing of the Volga River and cut off the connection between the defenders in the city and the other side. If the city and If contact with the outside world is cut off, no matter how many defenders there are, they will not be able to defend the city."
Vitkov did not make any comment, but took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, pulled out two cigarettes, threw one to Sokov, and held the other in his mouth. After he struck a match and lit his cigarette, he put out the match, looked at Sokov and asked, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, so to speak, the reason why you are eager to return to the post of brigade commander is entirely because you are worried that I will continue the army." If you continue to command, is it very likely that you will be wiped out?"
"That's right." Sokov nodded, indicating that this was exactly his purpose.
After hearing Sokov's answer, Vitkov's resentment subsided somewhat. After taking a puff of his cigarette, he asked, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, since you have returned to the post of brigade commander, I would like to ask you, How are you going to hold on to Mamayev Heights next?”
"We have too few people, and we have to defend the northern and southern hills respectively. If the German army launches another attack of the same scale as the beginning of the month, we will simply not be able to defend it." Sokov took out something from Vitkov's pocket. He picked up a match, lit the cigarette, and stuffed it back in. "We have a lot to do now, the first is to replenish our troops."
"Replenish troops?!" Hearing what Sokov said, Vitkov couldn't help but curiously asked, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, do you know how tense the troops in the city are now? Although in the past few days, there have been nearly The 37th and 39th Guards Divisions entered the city, but they were immediately arranged by the commander to set up defenses in the factory area. In a situation where one soldier can't wait to be used as two people, I would like to ask, where can you supplement your troops?"
"It is definitely impossible to supplement the troops with fully-organized troops." Sokov said to Vitkov with a straight finger. "We have three ways to supplement troops. One is the wounded who have recovered and been discharged from the hospital, and the other is the wounded who have been dispersed in the city. The third is to arm the citizens who have not yet had time to evacuate the city."
"Well, it would be a good choice to replenish the wounded and scattered commanders and fighters into the army." Vitkov waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and then took the initiative to express his opinion. "But arming the citizens, I I think this is a bit inappropriate. In any case, they have not received special military training. You know, victory on the battlefield depends not only on the number of people, but on people with fighting ability."
"Yes, you are right." Sokov continued, "The citizens have not received military training and do not have any combat experience, but as long as we organize them and train them, they can master basic military skills. Skills, and then after two more battles, they will be able to form combat effectiveness.”
When Sokov said this, he suddenly remembered something and asked quickly, "Comrade Colonel, what work were you responsible for before you came to Mamayev Heights to take up the post?"
"Me?" Vitkov looked at Sokov and said, "At that time, the commander asked me to be responsible for organizing the defense of the factory area."
Knowing that the other party was originally responsible for the defense of the factory area, Sokov knew what to say next. "Have you been worried about the lack of troops defending the factory area?"
"That's true." Vitkov confirmed Sokov's speculation. "You also know that in early September, two large-scale counterattacks were launched in the north of the city. The Army Group devoted all its strength to Go in. Unexpectedly, not only did we not achieve the desired results, but we also used up all the vitality we had finally accumulated. So that in the following battles, we had to rely on the militiamen of each factory for defense tasks."
Sokov remembered that after the German army received additional troops, weapons and ammunition, they launched a fierce attack on Stalingrad in early October and early November. The focus of their attack was on the factory area. He took two puffs of his cigarette, threw it on the ground and crushed it with his toes, then said to Vitkov, "Comrade Colonel, according to my judgment, the German army is likely to concentrate more troops and technical equipment in the near future to attack Launch an attack in the factory area. By then, with the current strength of our army in that area, we will simply not be able to defend it."
Regarding Sokov's alarmist words, Vitkov not only did not refute, but also humbly asked, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, do you have any good ideas?"
"Since it is a factory area, there are tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of available workers. If they can be organized, what a huge team it will be." Sokov could not directly propose to Chuikov the idea of arming all workers. The proposal can only be conveyed through Vitkov, the deputy chief of staff of the army group. "I think you can make such a suggestion to Comrade Commander."
Hearing what Sokov said, Vitkov grinned and said, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you know, I am your deputy brigade commander now, how can I report to the superiors beyond my rank?"
"Comrade Colonel," Sokov said with a smile, seeing that Vitkov's hostility towards him had been almost eliminated, "Although you are now the deputy commander of the infantry brigade, the commander has not dismissed you as the deputy chief of staff of the group army. As for his position, you still have the right to make suggestions to him directly."
"It's not urgent. I'll find time another day to have a good talk with Comrade Commander." Vitkov threw away the cigarette butt in his hand and asked curiously, "You just said that we have a lot to do. Replenishing our troops is just a matter of time." One aspect, what about the other aspects?”
"In addition to replenishing troops, the second thing to do is to repair the fortifications." Sokov pointed to the soldiers who were repairing the ring fortifications on the top of the mountain. "In addition to the ring fortifications on the top of the mountain, I also plan to have the troops repair the fortifications on the front slope. , fighting a positional battle with the German army."
After Vitkov silently noted this, he continued to ask, "Besides these two things, is there anything else?"
"We mobilized manpower from each battalion and formed several small teams. Once it gets dark, we will quietly pass through the enemy's defense lines and go deep into their rear to carry out breakthrough attacks." Sokov said, "As long as they If we can contain some of the enemy's forces, the pressure we bear here at Mamayev Ridge will be greatly reduced."
While the two were chatting, a communications soldier hurried over. After raising his hand to salute Sokov, he reported breathlessly, "Comrade Brigade Commander, the Chief of Staff asked you to return to the headquarters and said yes." I need to discuss important things with you.”
"Let's go, Comrade Colonel, let's go back to the headquarters." Knowing that Sidorin had something important to ask him, Sokov stood up and said to Vitkov, "According to my understanding of Lieutenant Colonel Sidorin , if it wasn’t an urgent matter, he definitely wouldn’t send someone to find me.”
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