It is actually not that far from Mamayev Heights to the command post of the Third Battalion, less than five kilometers away. But this journey took Sokov a lot of time. Dozens of people crowded together can certainly make German snipers helpless. But if they encounter a small German army hiding in the ruins, the other party can cause heavy casualties to the troops as long as they shoot with a few submachine guns or throw a grenade.
In order to avoid this situation, Sokov divided everyone into three teams. The front and rear teams each had ten soldiers, led by Guchakov and Samoylov respectively. He took the remaining two teams with him. Ten people walked in the middle. Each team is one hundred meters apart. Even if one team is attacked by the enemy, the other two teams can rescue them in time.
Sokov held the assault rifle, his finger on the trigger, and watched the surroundings vigilantly as he walked. Once something strange happens somewhere, his muzzle will immediately point in that direction. It wasn't until he passed through the dangerous zone where he might encounter the enemy and arrived at Captain Andre's command post that he breathed a long sigh of relief.
When Andrei saw Sokov's arrival, he immediately stepped forward and saluted: "Hello, comrade division commander, on behalf of all the battalion commanders and fighters, I welcome you!"
"Hello, Captain Andrei. Nice to meet you." Sokov shook hands with Andrei, walked quickly to the wooden table in the middle of the room, looked down at the map placed on it, Ask directly: "How many people are left in your battalion, controlling those streets?"
"We still have 1,367 people in the entire battalion, of which 139 are soldiers from the original infantry brigade, and the rest are militiamen and armed citizens." Andre walked to the table and pointed on the map with his hand. Control area: "The areas currently under our control are Second Embankment Street, January 9th Square, Sun Street, Kursky Street and Gogol Street."
From Andre's report, Sokov found that although the third battalion had a lot of troops, most of them were militiamen or ordinary citizens with little combat effectiveness. It was really difficult for them to defend such a large area. After a moment of silence, Sokov raised his head, looked at Andre and asked, "Do you have enough troops to defend such a large area?"
"To defend such a large area, we do have a few people, and most of them are militiamen and citizens with low combat effectiveness." Andre said hesitantly: "If the division headquarters can give us more troops, Maybe I can expand the area of control by a street or two."
"No need, just keep the current scale." Sokov knew very well that the most difficult days for the Stalingrad defenders were coming. If Andrei and the others were allowed to continue to expand their control area, they would soon be It will attract the attention of the Germans. Once the enemy mobilizes heavy troops to compete with Andre and the others for the city, then the unit protecting the left wing of Mamayev Heights may be completely destroyed: "If you stimulate the Germans too much, they will During the battle, you will be the focus of the attack, and it will be difficult for you to support it with your current strength."
Seeing that Sokov was unwilling to send reinforcements to him and did not agree to expand his territory, Andre couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, but he also knew very well that Sokov's starting point for doing this was to protect himself and prevent him from becoming a The focus of the German attack.
"How is the situation at Vasily's place?" After a while, Sokov suddenly asked again.
"Vasily?!" When he suddenly heard Sokov's question, Andrei couldn't help but be startled. He thought to himself that his troops were solely responsible for the defense of the city. How could they know the situation of the new battalion stationed at Mamaev Hill? ? But he soon realized that he had made a mistake. Sokov was asking about the sniper Sergeant Vasily, not the commander of the new battalion, Captain Vasily. He quickly replied: "Report to Comrade Division Commander, Sergeant Vasily is The defended building is now the focus of the enemy's attack and is attacked almost every day. Fortunately, the building is still in our hands."
Sokov knew that the Pavlov Building in history held on for 58 days during the Battle of Stalingrad. He was worried that after it became the Vasily Building, different results might occur depending on the defenders. After listening to Andre's report, he was secretly relieved, and then said to Andre: "Comrade Captain, leave the work here to your deputy, and you take me to the Vasily Building."
"What, go to the Vasily Building?" Andrei heard that Sokov was going to the Vasily Building, and quickly dissuaded him: "Comrade Division Commander, there are Germans everywhere there, you can't take risks easily."
"The Vasily Building is an important support point located on January 9th Square. Its gain or loss is directly related to the rear security of Mamayev Heights." Seeing Andrei objecting to his going to the Vasily Building, Sokov specifically emphasized He said: "I will go to the building to meet with the soldiers, and I can strengthen everyone's confidence in guarding the building."
Now that Sokov had spoken to this extent, Andrei could only choose to compromise. After handing over the command to his deputy, he said to Sokov: "Comrade division commander, since there are many enemies near the Vasily Building, we Don’t let too many people go, lest the target be exposed.”
Sokov agreed very much with Andre's statement. If he really brought dozens of people there and was discovered by the Germans lurking nearby, thinking that there were more troops in the building, he might directly call for artillery fire. attack.
Just as Andrei, Sokov and others were preparing to leave the command post and go to the Vasily Building, fierce gunfire and explosions suddenly came from outside. Hearing this voice, Sokov immediately asked vigilantly: "Comrade Captain, where is this exchange of fire?"
After Andrei heard the noise coming from outside, a relaxed expression appeared on his face. He turned to Sokov: "Comrade Division Commander, if I am not mistaken, the enemy must be attacking the Vasily Building again." . I think you’d better not go.”
Although Sokov wanted to visit the Vasily Building, there was a war going on there at the moment. If he had to go, he would be putting himself in a dangerous situation. Sokov would never do such a stupid thing. However, on the surface, he still ordered Andre: "Comrade Captain, to be on the safe side, you should call Sergeant Vasily to see if his place has been attacked by the enemy again."
Andrei carried out the orders given by Sokov very simply. He quickly picked up the phone and asked the communications soldier to help connect the Vasily Building. After hearing Vasily's voice, he asked directly: "Comrade Sergeant, what happened? Did the enemy launch another attack on you overnight?" Attacked?"
"Yes, Comrade Battalion Commander, the enemy came over again under the cover of night and tried to seize the building." In addition to Vasily's anxious voice, fierce gunshots and explosions could be clearly heard in the receiver: "Please rest assured. , we are fully confident of repelling the enemy's attack."
After Andrei hung up the phone, he looked up at Sokov and said: "Comrade Division Commander, I have verified that the enemy is indeed attacking the Vasily Building. It is too dangerous there, so you should not go there."
"Well," Sokov said calmly, "since there's a war going on there, I won't go."
Andrei knew very well how difficult the road to Vasily's Building was. Every time he sent someone to deliver ammunition or supplies, he had to pay a high price. Even if there is no fighting there at the moment, if you take Sokov there by yourself, accidents may happen on the way. Now that you know that Sokov will not go to the Vasily Building, your mood suddenly becomes much more relaxed.
But now that Sokov is here, even if he can't go to the Vasily Building, he still needs to give some advice on Andrei's work, so that the risk is not worth taking. He pointed at the map on the table and said to Andre: "Comrade Captain, your troops are limited. If you want to completely defend these blocks, you must adopt reasonable tactics..." Andre heard what Sokov said, He immediately guessed that the teacher might want to teach him defense skills, so he quickly took out a pen and paper and started recording.
“...The windows on the first floor of the building should be blocked with wooden sticks wrapped with barbed wire to prevent the enemy from breaking in through the window or throwing grenades, causing casualties to the defenders inside the house.
… All doors leading to the outside of the house or stairwells that are not in use must be blocked with furniture and debris to prevent them from being used by the enemy as an avenue for their attack.
...Due to the limited elevation angle of enemy tanks, observation posts, snipers and radio operators should stay on the top floor or roof. This not only provides a wide field of vision and facilitates observation, but also makes them less vulnerable to tank fire.
...If possible, mortars or heavy machine guns should be placed on the roof of the building to kill the attacking enemy from a high position. "
After Andrei recorded what Sokov said, he humbly asked for advice: "Comrade division commander, you have told us these defense techniques before, so many of them have been used in actual combat. Do you have any more applicable experience? "
"Is there more applicable street fighting experience?" Sokov smiled faintly and continued: "Although you control a lot of areas, in order to attack the enemy more effectively, I suggest you divide it into a defensive area and a guerrilla area."
"Fortified areas and guerrilla areas?" Hearing the new term Sokov said, Andrei showed a confused expression on his face: "Comrade division commander, can you explain it in more detail?"
"There are many old stone buildings in the city. These buildings are extremely strong and will be destroyed unless the Germans bombard them with 155mm heavy artillery or use bombers to drop heavy bombs. In such a building, you can Arrange enough troops to hold on and serve as the fire support point for your defense line.
There is no need to waste troops on holding on to some buildings that are not very strong and are located in traffic arteries. You only need to place some warriors inside to ambush passing enemies. As soon as the mission is completed, you will move immediately so that the enemy cannot figure out your whereabouts. "
Regarding Sokov's statement, Andrei raised his own question: "Comrade division commander, if our soldiers are entangled by the enemy while performing tasks in the guerrilla zone, how can they escape?"
"It's actually very simple to get out." Sokov has a lot of experience in how to conduct guerrilla warfare, so when he heard Andre's question, he answered confidently: "Every time the soldiers enter those buildings, , they all set some booby traps or traps and move them immediately after fighting them. Even if the Germans react quickly and can rush into the building before the soldiers leave, the booby traps and traps set up in advance are enough for them to drink a pot. Wait for them After clearing the booby traps and traps, our soldiers have long disappeared, and even if they want to pursue us, they don’t know where to pursue them.”
Sokov's words made Andrei's eyes light up. He had never thought that street fighting with the enemy in the city could be fought like this. He quickly recorded what Sokov had just said, and asked again: "Comrade division commander, what do you think the size of the troops sent out to attack the enemy should be each time?"
"Five to eight people are enough." Sokov pointed at Andre and explained: "The members should be two machine gunners, a sniper or sharpshooter, plus a few soldiers equipped with submachine guns. Such a scale The team is very flexible in street fighting. After attacking the enemy in this building, they can quickly move to another building to continue fighting.
If the enemy wants to deal with our guerrilla tactics and prevent their soldiers from being unexpectedly attacked by us during the march, they must deploy sufficient garrison forces in the buildings on both sides of the road. In this way, their power will be dispersed, and then you can find a way to concentrate your forces and eat these enemies bit by bit. "
Sokov was deeply afraid that Andre would look down on his own tactics, and specifically emphasized: "Comrade Captain, maybe the result of each of our battles is to wipe out one German squad or even less, but as long as we fight unremittingly, , when a small amount adds up to a large amount, the enemy will have a serious shortage of soldiers. Not only will it be difficult for them to pose a threat to you, but on the contrary, they will be worried about being attacked by you all day long, and they will be in panic all day long. "
"Comrade Division Commander, your street fighting experience is really useful." Andrei waited for Sokov to finish speaking and then said excitedly: "This way, I will be more confident in holding the existing defensive zone. "
"It's not enough for you to understand these tactics alone. After all, you are not fighting the enemy alone." Sokov reminded Andre: "You must also make each company commander familiar with and master it as soon as possible, so that Only in this way can you ensure that your defense zone is unbreakable. Do you understand?"
"Comrade division commander," Andrei waited for Sokov to finish and then asked cautiously: "I will call some company commanders here now and ask you to personally introduce the new tactics to them. Do you think it is appropriate?"
Although Andre promised to promote the new tactics, Sokov still felt uneasy. At this moment, when he heard that he wanted to invite several company commanders to learn together, he said casually: "Okay, it just so happens that I'm still here." Here, you call them all immediately, and I will tell them these tactics again."
Set a small goal first, such as remembering in 1 second: Shukeju
