When the commanders and fighters of several squads were queuing up to receive rockets, a sentry at the entrance of the tunnel trotted over, stood up in front of Sokov and reported, "Comrade Brigadier, the Chief of Staff just called, please return to the headquarters immediately. "
Sokov stared at the soldiers who were receiving rockets and asked without raising his head, "Do you know anything?"
"I don't know." The sentry replied simply.
"Comrade Brigadier," Sidorin knew that Sokov was distributing rockets to the squad here. Since he called to urge Sokov to go back, there must be something important. Vitkov thought of this, He quickly said to Sokov, "I guess Lieutenant Colonel Sidorin has something important to ask you. You'd better go back to the headquarters first and leave the matters here to me."
Sokov was eager to know what Sidorin wanted to do with him. Seeing that Vitkov had recommended himself, Sokov nodded to him and said politely, "Comrade Deputy Brigadier, I'll leave the matter here to you."
Upon learning that Sokov was returning to the headquarters, Seryosha, who was serving as a guard on the side, quickly came over and prepared to help Sokov back to the tunnel. But Sokov waved his hand to him and said, "Seryozha, no need, I can do it on my own. You and your people will continue to stay here to protect the safety of the deputy brigade commander." After saying that, he covered his abdomen with his hands. He walked toward the tunnel with some staggering steps.
As soon as he walked into the headquarters, Sokov saw Sidorin answering the phone. He immediately thought that the other party asked him to come back. It must have something to do with the call he was answering, so he asked in a low voice, "Comrade Chief of Staff, are you?" Who are you calling?"
When Sidorin saw Sokov entering, he quickly covered the phone with his hand and replied in the same voice, "It's the commander calling. He wants to know something about you." After saying that, he let go of his hand. , raised his voice and asked through the microphone, "Comrade Commander, the brigade commander is back. Do you want to talk to him?"
When Sokov saw Sidorin handing the microphone to him, he immediately stepped forward and took it. "Hello, Comrade Commander, I am Sokov. Do you have any instructions?"
Chuikov's voice came from the receiver, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I heard Comrade Sidorin say that Colonel Vitkov has escorted the batch of rockets back. You also plan to let those small teams that perform tasks behind the enemy's rear, They all carry some rockets, right?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Sokov knew about this. Even if Sidorin did not report it, Chuikov would learn about the situation sooner or later through specific news channels, so he openly admitted, "I asked each squad to carry Rockets are launched behind enemy lines to better attack the enemy."
After Chuikov waited for him to finish speaking, he asked slowly, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, have you ever thought that leaving these rockets on Mamayev Heights might have a greater effect?"
In response to Chuikov's proposal, Sokov was silent for a moment, and after reorganizing the vocabulary in his mind, he continued, "Comrade Commander, I think about it this way. If the small team that goes deep behind the enemy's rear carries rockets, They can attack the enemy's barracks, warehouses, transport convoys, headquarters, etc. from a long distance. Since they are far away from the enemy, they can move immediately after completing the mission without worrying about being entangled by the enemy, thus improving the team's ability to Survival rate behind enemy lines.”
Although he said the same thing, Chuikov had heard Sidorin's report not long ago, but for some reason, he had to hear Sokov say it himself before he felt at ease. After he waited for Sokov to finish speaking, he said, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I want to ask you a question, and I hope you can answer it truthfully."
Sokov didn't know what Chuikov wanted to ask, but he also guessed that it must be related to the small team sent to the enemy's rear, so he said calmly, "Excuse me, Comrade Commander."
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov," Chuikov asked, "what kind of impact do you think these small teams will have on the enemy's subsequent offensive deployment when they arrive behind enemy lines?"
"Comrade Commander, according to the intelligence I have, the enemy suffered huge losses in the early offensive. Now they are regrouping their troops and technical equipment to prepare for another fierce attack on Stalingrad." Sokov was confident. He replied: "Small units that go deep behind enemy lines can use rockets to attack enemy transportation lines, destroy roads, railways and bridges, completely disrupting the original deployment of the German army, and thus buy breathing time for the defenders in the city. "
As the commander of the group army, Chuikov could naturally learn through his own information channels that the Supreme Command was formulating a counterattack plan for the Stalingrad area. He knew very well that to completely repel the enemies entrenched in the Stalingrad area, the number of troops and technical equipment required would be astonishing, and it would take a very long time to complete such an assembly. Therefore, what he was most worried about was that in the base camp Before preparing for a counterattack, do you have the strength to defend the city?
After listening to Sokov's statement, he was full of expectations for the results that the small team behind enemy lines could achieve. After being silent for a while, he said into the microphone, "Okay, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, since you have so much confidence in the team, then I will wait for the good news you report to me."
Sidorin watched Sokov put down the phone and asked with some concern, "Comrade Brigadier, do you really think that the actions of the small team behind enemy lines can completely disrupt the deployment of the German army?"
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, I have such confidence." Hearing Sidorin's question, Sokov smiled lightly and then replied, "Although the number of troops we sent behind enemy lines is limited, the actions they took , but it can delay the time for the German army to launch a general offensive on Stalingrad, giving us more time to prepare for defense."
…………
Of the four detachments that sneaked into the enemy's rear, the first to fight the enemy was the detachment commanded by Second Lieutenant Fisher from the 1st Battalion. They were marching westward along a simple road. A soldier who was scouting the road in front ran back and reported to him, "Comrade Second Lieutenant, a convoy was spotted on the road ahead, heading towards us."
"How far are we from?" After hearing the report, Fisher immediately asked a series of questions, "How long does it take to get here?"
The soldier quickly replied, "We saw the car lights on the highway. Judging from the speed at which the convoy is moving, they will meet us in ten minutes at most."
Fisher looked at the nearby terrain, and then ordered the soldiers around him to "immediately seize the commanding heights on the right side of the road and establish a launching position." Then he ordered the soldier, "Go back and continue to observe. If there is anything new, Please answer and report to me immediately."
As the order was given, the soldiers of the squad swarmed towards the hillside on the right side of the road, and helped the gunner set up the tripod and set up the launcher.
After all this was done, the soldiers standing on the hillside saw the convoy in the distance. The gunner counted the car lights in the distance, and then asked Fisher, "Comrade Second Lieutenant, the enemy has about thirty trucks, and several tanks driving side by side with the convoy. Do you think, how many rockets are we going to fire?"
Fisher thought for a moment and then replied, "We brought three launch tubes, and two salvos should be enough."
"Two volleys?!" After hearing Fisher's arrangement, the artilleryman said with some embarrassment, "Comrade Second Lieutenant, if two volleys can knock out half of the enemy's vehicles, it's not bad. Do you think we should add another round?"
"No," Fischer ruthlessly rejected the artillery's request. "We have just entered the enemy's rear, and there are still many battles to fight in the future. We cannot shoot out all the rockets and just fire two salvos. No matter what Whatever the outcome of the battle is, we will move immediately after launching the weapon."
Seeing Fisher's resolute attitude, the artilleryman knew that nothing he said would be of any use. He could only return to the gun position, adjust the position of the launch tube, and aim at the approaching convoy in the distance. After completing the aiming, he looked up at Fisher and asked for instructions, "Comrade Second Lieutenant, preparations for rocket launch have been completed. Can it be launched? Please give instructions?!"
"Launch!" Fisher gave the launch order without hesitation.
The artilleryman agreed resoundingly, and then pressed the launch button. Three rockets flew out of the launch tube, dragging their long flame tails and flying towards the convoy in the distance. Before the rockets could reach their target, Fisher shouted to the soldiers standing nearby, "What are you still doing? Why don't you hurry up and help reload them?"
Just as the soldiers gathered around to load the rockets, the three rockets fired earlier had already landed in the middle of the German convoy, and three dazzling balls of fire were raised, followed by earth-shattering explosions. The artilleryman didn't even care to look at his own results. He pressed the firing button again and completed the second salvo.
Seeing that the road in the distance had turned into a sea of fire, Fisher quickly ordered the soldiers to "put the launch tube away quickly. We will move immediately. When the enemy recovers and surrounds us, we will not be able to leave."
The fire on the road reflected the sky before dawn red. In the light of the fire, seven or eight German trucks staggered on the road and exploded into flames. The road near the explosion point was strewn with German corpses. Due to the powerful power of the rockets, even two or two tanks near the explosion point were not spared. The entire vehicle body was burned in flames, and none of the tank soldiers inside escaped.
.
