"Hurry up and bring in Director Peter!" Chuikov told the staff officer: "We have been waiting for him."
Not a moment after the staff officer left, Peter, wearing a black mink round hat and a black woolen long coat, hurried in. He stretched out his hand to Chuikov who came up to him, and said in a friendly tone: "Hello, General Chuikov, we meet again."
"Hello, Director Peter!" Chuikov shook the other person's hand and said with a smile: "Welcome to our place as a guest. Do you want a cup of hot tea?"
"There's no need for tea." Peter knew that the war was urgent now, and Chuikov would not take the initiative to invite him to the army headquarters if he didn't have something important to do, so he didn't go around in circles, but asked directly: "General Chuikov, Is there anything important you asked me to come here for?"
"That's it, Director Peter. We will soon launch a new counterattack against the enemy." Considering that the troops participating in the counterattack will attack from Mamayev Heights and the Red October Factory respectively, Chuikov has no plans to attack the enemy. Peter kept it secret: "The starting points of this counterattack force will be at Mamayev Heights and your Red October Factory."
"Are we going to start a counterattack again?" Peter was a little surprised when he learned that a new counterattack was going to be launched. "But it's only been two days since your counterattack ended. Why are you launching another offensive against the enemy so soon?"
"Director Peter, what is the situation in Stalingrad? Even if I don't say it, you must know it very well." Chuikov explained to the other party: "At present, the enemy is stronger than us. If we only carry out passive defense, I am afraid that The enemy will gradually break through our remaining defense lines. Therefore, we can only take uninterrupted attacks to disrupt the enemy's strategic deployment and prevent them from taking the initiative on the battlefield."
In response to Chuikov's statement, Peter was silent for a long time before asking: "General Chuikov, can you tell me truthfully whether our army now has the conditions to fight back?"
Peter's question made Chuikov look very embarrassed. In fact, he was unwilling to launch another counterattack without any chance of winning at this time. However, since his superiors issued such an order, he must find a way to implement it even if he knew it was impossible. He was silent for a long time and then said solemnly: "Director Peter, I'll tell you the truth, if we launch a counterattack in these two days, we will have no chance of winning, and we will even use up our precious vitality."
After hearing Chuikov's answer, Peter asked puzzledly: "Why do you still launch an attack if you know there is no chance of winning?"
"We can only unconditionally execute the orders issued by our superiors." Chuikov said helplessly: "If we don't take the initiative to launch a counterattack, the Germans will take the initiative on the battlefield, and our situation will become even worse. .”
"Then what can I do for you?" Peter heard this and realized that this counterattack with no chance of winning was inevitable, so he asked instinctively: "You need me to mobilize workers from the factory to cooperate with you." Your actions?”
"No, your workers need to be used to protect the factory. They are not required to participate in this battle." Chuikov knew very well that the workers' fighting power was not strong. If they were organized into a counterattack force and went into battle, their sacrifice would be in vain. So he decisively rejected Peter's proposal and stated his original intention of calling Peter over: "I hope you can provide us with a batch of tanks to enhance our chances of successful counterattack."
Since Peter knew that the counterattack had little hope of success, he naturally knew to hand over the newly produced tanks to Chuikov, that is, there would be no return for the meat buns to beat the dog. He waved his hands and said: "General Chuikov, last time you came forward, from me. More than forty tanks have to go. I don’t know how to write a report to my superiors. You still want tanks today. No, this is absolutely not possible! If you really want tanks, you can go to Lieutenant Colonel Sokov Colonel, ask him to hand over those tanks to you."
After Chuikov waited for Peter to finish speaking, he nuzzled at Sokov who was standing aside and said, "Well, Colonel Sokov is right there. You can ask him if he can still take out the tank?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, is that you?" After Chuikov's reminder, Peter realized that Sokov was standing aside. He quickly walked over and asked loudly: "I want to ask you, what I gave you Where are the tanks?”
"I'm sorry, Director Peter." Things that should be faced must always be faced. You can't hide from them. When Peter discovered him, Sokov could only say hello to him and replied awkwardly: " Of the tanks you gave me, except for ten left in the factory, all the rest are gone."
"What, the rest are all gone?" Peter became excited when he heard what Sokov said. He grabbed Sokov's shirt with both hands, shook it vigorously, and asked loudly: "You took my Where have all the tanks gone? Also, what about that spherical tank? It is one of only a few prototypes in the country. Even if just the wreckage falls into the hands of the Germans, you have no idea what the consequences will be. You should be able to imagine it.”
Because Peter exerted too much force, Lesokov was a little out of breath. He struggled to free his clothes from Peter's hands. After coughing violently a few times, he said out of breath: "Director Peter, don't get excited. Let me explain to you slowly. "
"Tell me!" Peter stared at Sokov with wide eyes and said viciously: "Where did you get my tanks? If you can't tell me clearly, I will never finish with you today."
Before answering Peter's question, Sokov glanced at Chuikov and asked him whether he should tell the truth. When he saw the other party nodded slightly, he said: "Director Peter, you should know that I led a group of people a few days ago. Detachment of troops and tank battalion going north, right?"
"I know." Peter nodded and said angrily: "It is said that General Guryev's 39th Guards Division encountered a little trouble, and you led your troops to support him."
"Comrade Factory Director, we are not just supporting the 39th Guards Division." Sokov replied: "Our main task is to go to the Orlovka area and join forces with friendly forces from outside the encirclement."
Peter was from Stalingrad, so he naturally knew what the meeting of the two armies in Orlovka meant for the city in today's critical situation. When he heard this, he didn't care about pursuing the whereabouts of the tank, but asked nervously: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, have you joined forces with friendly forces?"
"No." Sokov shook his head with a wry smile, and then said: "Although my troops successfully occupied Orlovka, it didn't take long for our retreat to be cut off by the enemy, and we became a group trapped in The lone army encircled us. The friendly troops who came to join us were also blocked by the enemy and could not achieve the purpose of joining forces. At this time, I could only decisively choose to break out to avoid the end of the entire army being destroyed."
When Peter heard this, he couldn't help but interrupt and asked: "So, the tank I gave you was lost during the breakout?"
"Most of the tanks in the tank battalion were lost in the process of breaking through the German defense lines. The remaining dozen tanks ran out of fuel and ammunition. After completing the breakout mission, I handed over these tanks Comrades from the Don River Front. As for the spherical tank you mentioned, I have sent people to hide it. Comrade Factory Director, you can rest assured that only a few tank soldiers know where the tank is hidden, and they will definitely keep it secret. , so you don’t have to worry about this prototype falling into the hands of the enemy.”
In fact, the reason why Peter was so excited just now was because he was worried that the spherical tank would fall into the hands of the Germans, and then he would be unable to eat and walk away. Now that he knew that the prototype car had been well hidden, the heart in his throat returned to his stomach again.
Seeing that Peter's mood had stabilized again, Chuikov said with a smile: "Director Peter, you have heard it. Colonel Sokov used the tanks you gave him to successfully break through several enemy lines of defense. He arrived in the Orlovka area. If it were not for the fact that the ammunition and fuel were finally exhausted, I believe he would have achieved greater results."
I heard that the tank battalion under Sokov had achieved great results in the battle some time ago. Peter, as the person who provided the tanks, was naturally honored. As soon as Chuikov finished speaking, he immediately echoed: "No, the Germans' No. 3 and No. 4 tanks are no match for our T-34. If the numbers are equal, they can be easily defeated."
"Director Peter," Sokov took the opportunity to make another request to Peter: "Can you please provide Colonel Sokov with another batch of tanks and let him rebuild the tank battalion so that it can be used in the next counterattack?" , teach the Germans a lesson."
The first time Chuikov called Sokov a colonel, Peter hadn't noticed yet. Now when he heard the other party using the same title repeatedly, he couldn't help but curiously asked Chuikov: "General Chuikov, I seem to have heard you call Comrade Sokov " Colonel, when was he promoted to military rank, why don’t I know?”
"Just two days ago." Chuikov replied with a smile: "In order to commend his military exploits, the head of the front army not only promoted him to the rank of colonel, but also awarded him the Order of the Red Banner." At this point, he mentioned Soko After looking at it carefully, the husband reminded, "Colonel Sokov, being promoted to military rank and receiving a medal is a very honorable thing. There is no need to hide it. Remember to add a fourth bar to the collar badge later." , and don’t forget to wear the Order of the Red Banner.”
"Colonel Sokov," Peter said to Sokov cheerfully: "Please accept my congratulations for your achievement of a higher military rank and the Order of the Red Banner."
After shaking hands with Sokov, he turned to Chuikov and said: "General Chuikov, I have thought about it. I still have about twenty tanks in my hand, and I will give them to you. If you need more tanks , I can contact the director of the Dzerzhinsky Factory and transfer a batch of tanks from him."
Chuikov knew that the Dzerzhinsky Factory was currently the largest tank production plant in the Soviet Union. If Peter came forward to contact him, he would definitely be able to obtain quite a few tanks. Faced with such a great favor from Peter, Chuikov excitedly grabbed the other person's hand, shook it vigorously, and kept saying words of thanks to him.
Set a small goal first, such as remembering in 1 second: Shukeju
