Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko walked out of the duty room and prepared to return to the unit to assign tasks to the soldiers. At the door, I almost bumped into a lieutenant wearing a tank soldier's uniform.
When the tank trooper lieutenant saw that he almost hit a lieutenant colonel, he quickly stopped and prepared to apologize to him. Unexpectedly, as soon as he raised his head, he recognized the lieutenant colonel standing in front of him. He was the commander of the 122nd Guards Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko. He quickly raised his hand and saluted, and then asked respectfully: "Captain" Comrade, is Colonel Sokov inside?"
Before Papuchenko could answer, Sokov, who was sitting in the room, heard the sound outside the door. He stopped talking to Peter and Zinchenko, tilted his head and looked outside the door, and asked curiously: "Who is outside the door?"
"It's me, Comrade Colonel." Hearing Sokov's question in the room, the tank crew lieutenant nodded apologetically to Papuchenko, walked around him and walked through the door, raising his hand to Sokov who was sitting in the room. He gave a solemn military salute and then said: "Comrade Colonel, Lieutenant Agafond of the Tank Corps is reporting to you. I am waiting for your orders. Please give instructions!"
"It turns out to be Lieutenant Agafoun." Although Sokov knew that the tank unit led by Agafoon had withdrawn to the factory area after suffering losses, but when he came here, because there were too many things, he actually forgot about him. , if Agafoon hadn't appeared, he didn't know when he would remember this humble tank unit. He stood up and walked to Agafoon, held his hand, and said with a smile: "In today's battle, the tank unit you command performed really well. I will call Colonel Bely and ask for help." Please take credit."
Hearing what Sokov said, Agafoon seemed a little embarrassed: "Comrade Colonel, you are very grateful. We can achieve such results only because our T-34 tanks are better than the German No. 3 and No. 4 tanks." Tanks are more advanced.”
"Comrade Lieutenant," Sokov asked tentatively: "How many people do you have under your command?"
Agafen knew the reason for Sokov's question and quickly explained to him: "Although we were destroyed three tanks, only two people died and three were injured. As long as we add new tanks, our tanks The detachment can be guaranteed to have at least five tanks in combat condition."
Sokov dragged Agafond to Peter and said: "Comrade director, the tank unit commanded by Lieutenant Agafoon performed very well in today's battle, causing the enemy to lose a lot of troops. Tanks. But after the battle, they also paid a heavy price, and now they only have three tanks left. Do you think you can give them some more?"
"Colonel Sokov," Peter said awkwardly in response to Sokov's request: "I have handed over to you all the tanks produced today. For this matter, Commander Chuikov complained to me for a long time, saying that I should These tanks were sent to the barricade factory or to the Dzerzhinsky workers for greater effectiveness.”
Hearing Peter's prevarication, Sokov felt that if there was nothing that could impress him, it would be impossible to get a new tank from him, so he turned to look at Agafond and said: " Comrade Lieutenant, report the results achieved by your tank detachment in Workers’ New Village to Comrade Factory Director.”
Seeing that Sokov asked him to report the results to the factory director Peter, Agafen said with pride: "Comrade director, in today's battle, we destroyed a total of 17 German tanks and assault guns, and we only lost 17 tanks and assault guns." Got three cars.”
Peter looked absent-minded at first, but after listening to Agafond's report, he couldn't help but trembled, his pupils shrank violently, and he asked in surprise: "Comrade Lieutenant, what did you just say? You destroyed 17 tanks and Assault gun. Did I hear you correctly?”
"Director Peter, you heard that right." Agafond said in a positive tone: "The tank detachment I led destroyed a total of 17 German tanks and assault guns in the Workers' New Village."
"Oh my God!" Peter said in surprise after confirming the news: "This is simply unbelievable. You know, even if a tank battalion confronts the German armored forces, it can destroy such a tank. Remarkable results. And the tank detachment you led only had six tanks, but it killed so many enemy tanks."
From Peter's words, Sokov noticed that he was a little moved, and quickly struck while the iron was hot and said: "Comrade director, Lieutenant Agafond's tank detachment achieved such huge results with only six tanks. If he commanded Not six, but sixteen or twenty-six. Think about it, how big a result can be achieved? Maybe the German armored troops attacking Workers' New Village head-on will be beaten completely and lose their combat effectiveness."
After Peter waited for Sokov to finish speaking, he said with a wry smile: "Colonel Sokov, do you think I don't want to give Lieutenant Agavon a few more tanks? There really aren't any. All the inventory is given to Colonel Bely and others. The tank force is really unable to replenish the tank detachment with tanks."
Peter's words made Sokov feel cold for a long time. He knew that Peter's words at this time were probably not adulterated. Agafoun's tank detachment is too weak. Even if the performance of the tanks is far better than that of the German tanks, there are too many tanks that cannot withstand the enemy. If the fight continues, they will be annihilated by the enemy sooner or later.
Seeing Sokov's embarrassed look, Zinchenko, who was sitting next to him, coughed heavily and then said: "Comrade director, although we cannot provide Colonel Sokov and his friends with new tanks, we still have many old ones. Tank?”
"Old tanks?!" Sokov seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw after hearing what Zinchenko said. He quickly grabbed his arm and asked excitedly: "Comrade Deputy Director, what kind of old tanks are you talking about?" What's going on?"
"Old tanks refer to tanks that were destroyed or malfunctioned on the battlefield." Zinchenko explained to Sokov: "We sent maintenance workers to use tractors to drag these tanks back, and after simple repairs, It was given back to the troops for use.”
Zinchenko gave Sokov a glimmer of hope, and he quickly said to Peter: "Comrade director, since you can't provide us with new tanks off the production line, give us all the tanks that have been repaired. I think Lieutenant Agafond’s tank detachment has more tanks and will definitely defeat the enemy.”
"However, our number of old tanks is also very limited." Peter said with some embarrassment: "Those tanks brought back from the battlefield will be immediately replenished to the army once they are repaired. There are at most four or five tanks left in the factory."
"Are there any repaired German tanks?" Sokov felt that the number of four or five tanks was too few, and then asked: "If we don't have enough T-34s, we can use German tanks to destroy the enemy."
"We never repair German tanks." Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, Zinchenko explained to him: "There are too many impurities in the steel of their tanks. After they are dragged back from the battlefield, they usually become damaged." It’s straight back into the furnace.”
Regarding what Zinchenko said, Sokov was speechless for a moment. He always thought that the German tanks were of high quality. Unexpectedly, the leaders of the factory could not see clearly the German tanks and thought that their steel contained many impurities. There is no point in repairing it. Since the German tanks could not be counted on, he placed his hope on the only four or five tanks in Peter's hands: "Director Peter, since you still have four or five tanks in your hands, why not give them all to me. I plan to Strengthen the strength of the tank detachment, so that even if the Germans send out tanks to attack, we will have enough armor to fight an evenly matched tank battle with them."
Peter thought about Sokov's request over and over for a long time, but was unable to make a decision. Seeing Peter's troubled expression, Zinchenko suggested to him: "Comrade factory director, since the colonel needs to repair the old tanks, why not give them to him. If the superiors ask, we will say that these tanks are still under repair We are temporarily unable to enter the battle. Maybe in a few days, we will be able to get more tanks on the battlefield..."
"Comrade Deputy Factory Director is right." Seeing that Zinchenko was speaking for him, Sokov naturally would not stand aside and hurriedly agreed: "If it is a new tank, what is the output on the production line every day? The superior The leader must know it clearly. But if it’s a tank wreckage dragged back from the battlefield, when can it be repaired? Isn’t it just a matter of your words?”
"Okay!" Peter finally nodded and agreed to Sokov's request after weighing the relationship: "Colonel Sokov, since you said so, I will hand over the remaining five old tanks to you. I hope the tanks The detachment can achieve more brilliant results in the next battle."
While Peter was on the phone, Agafoon approached Sokov and asked in a low voice: "Comrade Colonel, I heard that after dark, we will launch a counterattack against the Workers' New Village. Is this true?"
"It's true." Sokov knew the reason why the other party asked, so he explained to him: "But we are conducting a sneak attack, not a forced attack, so the tank detachment does not need to participate in tonight's night attack."
"Comrade Colonel," Agafoon felt a little disappointed when he saw that Sokov was not going to let him participate in the operation. "If our tank detachment is not allowed to participate in tonight's night attack, I'm worried that the soldiers will be emotional."
"I think you are the one with the emotions." Sokov mercilessly exposed the other party's lies: "It's only one or two kilometers from the factory to the Workers' New Village. Comrade Lieutenant, think about it carefully. In the dead of night, At that time, several tanks suddenly launched. Will the enemy in the Workers' New Village hear the movement? If our intention is discovered by the enemy too early, they will have enough time to consolidate their defenses and increase our army's offensive potential. casualties at the time.”
After Sokov's explanation, Agafoon discovered that the tanks were activated in the middle of the night. The noise was indeed loud, and it was entirely possible to wake the enemy from their sleep. At that time, the sneak attack would turn into a strong attack, and the casualties of the troops might be huge. Rising several places. Thinking of this, he replied with some embarrassment: "I'm sorry, Comrade Colonel, I was too impatient and didn't think carefully enough."
"Okay, okay," Sokov waved to him, and then asked: "If Director Peter gives you five more tanks, will you have enough tank troops?"
After calculating silently in his mind for a while, Ajiafon slowly shook his head and said: "Not enough, Comrade Colonel. Five tanks require 20 tank crews, and now I only have 7 spare tank crews on hand, and I need to add 13 more."
"Colonel Sokov," Zinchenko heard from the conversation between the two that the number of tank troops under Sokov was seriously insufficient, so he took the initiative: "Do you think this will work? The five tanks we have replenished for you are all Bring your own driver, so the number of tank crews you need is only eight. I think there shouldn't be much of a problem if you select a few tank crews from the Guards Regiment."
"Comrade Deputy Factory Director, what you said makes sense." Sokov felt that under the current circumstances, in order to utilize all the tanks, a few tank soldiers must be transferred from within the Guards Regiment. "I will find a way to gather the necessary tank troops." At this point, Sokov turned to Samoylov who was standing at the foot of the wall and said, "Comrade Second Lieutenant, you go to Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko immediately and say It is my order to immediately ask in the regiment who has ever served as a tank soldier, so that they can be added to the tank detachment."
After Peter put down the phone, he looked up at Sokov and said: "Colonel Sokov, I have already said hello to the maintenance workshop below. They will bring all five repaired tanks over within an hour. What? So, do you have enough people on hand?"
"Comrade Factory Director," Sokov replied with a wry smile: "Don't worry about the tank crew, I will find a way to solve it."
…………
At one o'clock in the morning, Papuchenko came to Sokov and gave him his suggestion: "Comrade division commander, it's almost time. Please allow me to lead the troops into the sewer!"
Sokov raised his hand to look at the time and frowned slightly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, there is still one hour before the attack. Are you too anxious to enter the sewer at this time?"
"Comrade division commander, you don't know something." Papuchenko explained to Sokov: "Since we have blocked three roads in the sewer, the troops can only rely on the remaining two roads to pass. In this way, our The marching speed will be greatly reduced. Even though the factory entrance is only one or two kilometers away from the Workers' New Village, I estimate that it will take at least forty minutes for all the troops to reach the bottom of the Workers' New Village."
Peter was eager to recapture the Workers' New Village as soon as possible, so he naturally echoed Papuchenko: "Comrade Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko is right. Letting the troops start early will make our attack less hasty."
Sokov glanced at Peter and guessed his thoughts, but he did not expose him. He thought that this was just a sneak attack, there was no artillery preparation in advance, and there was no need for tank cover. Even if the troops' attack started earlier, it would not have any impact. He nodded slightly and said: "Okay, Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko, you set off now, pay attention to safety, and don't let the enemy notice you. Otherwise, as long as they send people to guard the exit of the sewer, our soldiers will not be able to get through. Get out of the sewer.”
