Ten minutes before the start of the attack, Sokov took Samoilov to the trench outside the factory gate, raised his binoculars and looked at the workers' new village in the distance. But because the light was too dark, he could barely make out the outline of the ruins in the Workers' New Village.
"Colonel Sokov," Peter's voice sounded from behind Sokov. He was worried that the Guards' counterattack would not go smoothly, so he came to the front to take a look. Seeing Sokov holding a telescope and looking non-stop, he couldn't help but ask: "Why is there no movement in our night attack troops until now? Has it been discovered by the enemy?"
"I think not." Sokov shook his head and said: "If the enemy had noticed, the Workers' New Village would have been filled with gunshots and explosions at this moment. But if you listen carefully, except for the sound coming from the distance, There is no movement except for the sound of gunfire." At this point, he raised his hand to check the time and added, "There are still six minutes until the attack starts, so let's wait patiently."
Hearing that the attack would start in six minutes, Peter knew that he was too nervous. He nodded and squatted in the trench. In order to relieve his nervousness, he took out the cigarette case from his pocket and just put the cigarette in his mouth. Before he could light it, he heard Sokova's deep voice: "Comrade Factory Director, if you don't want to throw it away, If your life is at stake, don't smoke in the trenches. I don't know if there are any German snipers nearby. If there are, the spark on the cigarette end will be enough to reveal your position."
It was Peter's first time to the forward position, and he really didn't understand that he couldn't smoke in the trenches at night. When Sokov said this, he quickly took off the cigarette in his mouth and stuffed it back into the cigarette case. He stood up and lay down next to Sokov, saying apologetically: "I'm sorry, Comrade Colonel, I didn't know there was such a rule at the front."
"It doesn't matter," Sokov waved his hand at him and said magnanimously: "Don't you know it now? I think I won't make similar mistakes next time."
"Comrade Factory Director, Comrade Factory Director." The two were talking when Bolshak suddenly ran over along the trench. He came to Peter, knelt down and said: "Comrade Factory Director, the deputy director is calling. , said that General Chuikov called you..."
"Comrade Factory Director," Sokov learned that Chuikov had called Peter, guessing that it might be something important, and quickly urged him: "Hurry up and answer the phone."
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, Bolshak unexpectedly said to him: "And you, comrade colonel, the commander also asked you to answer the phone."
When Sokov learned that Chuikov was looking for him, he quickly put down his telescope and followed Bolshak along the trench towards his command post. Unexpectedly, when he arrived at the battalion command post, Bolshak did not slow down and kept walking forward. "Major Bolshak," Sokov thought that Bolshak was thinking about something and was not focused enough to recognize his command post, so he quickly reminded him: "Where do you want? Your command It’s here.”
Bolshak stopped and turned to Sokov and said: "Comrade Colonel, General Chuikov's call came to the duty room. The deputy director there specifically called my command post and asked me to inform you. Go answer the phone."
Borschak sent the two men to the door of the duty room, then turned around and returned to his battalion command post. Sokov stepped into the room and saw the microphone on the table at a glance. However, he did not rush to pick up the phone. Instead, he made a gesture of invitation to Peter: "Comrade director, please answer the phone first." Bar!"
"Comrade Factory Director, Comrade Colonel, you are back!" Seeing the arrival of Peter and Sokov, Zinchenko quickly picked up the microphone on the table, handed it to Peter, and said: "Comrade Factory Director, General Chuikov wants to speak to you."
"Hello, General Chuikov, this is Peter." Peter took the phone and put it to his ear, and asked with a smile: "Do you have any instructions? ... What, hand over all the new tanks produced during this period?" For Colonel Bely's tank brigade?... Don't worry, no problem, no problem. We will definitely hand over many of the tanks we have produced in recent days to Colonel Bely. ...Oh, you are looking for Sokov Colonel! ... Yes, he was with me and I immediately put him on the phone."
Sokov didn't know what Chuikov would do if he came to see him at this time, but he still said respectfully: "Hello, Comrade Commander, I am Sokov. Do you have any instructions?"
On the other end of the phone, Chuikov asked with some displeasure: "I just heard from Comrade Military Commissar that your troops had voluntarily abandoned the Workers' New Village during the day. What on earth is going on?"
When Sokov heard Chuikov's question, he unconsciously raised his hand and looked at his watch. He found that ten hours had passed since he ordered the troops to withdraw from Workers' New Village, and Chuikov actually didn't know about it until now. In order not to make Chuikov angry, he took the initiative to introduce the battlefield situation at that time and the reasons why he did so.
"Then when do you plan to take back the Workers' New Village?" Chuikov waited patiently for Sokov to finish speaking, and then said bluntly: "I remind you, once the Germans gain a foothold in the Workers' New Village, what will you think about it? If we take it back, we will pay a huge price.”
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander, my troops are already lurking below the Workers' New Village. As soon as the time comes, they can immediately get out of the sewer and catch the enemy by surprise." Sokov said confidently: " Just wait for our good news.”
Sokov's answer surprised Chuikov: "What, your troops have been deployed in the sewers under Workers' New Village? That's great. When you recapture Workers' New Village, remember to report to me in time." After that, he also Sokov hung up the phone without giving him a chance to speak.
After ending the call with Chuikov, Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch and found that it was already two minutes past midnight. However, he did not hear the gunfire or explosions from the Workers' New Village, and he couldn't help but frown slightly.
Peter and Zinchenko also noticed something strange. They looked at each other and saw surprise in each other's eyes. Zinchenko tentatively asked Sokov: "Comrade Colonel, why is there no movement in Workers' New Village yet? Is it because Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko's troops have not entered the designated position yet?"
"That's impossible." Sokov shook his head and replied, "They set out an hour ago. It's impossible that they haven't arrived at the designated location yet."
"But there is no movement at all in Workers' New Village. Is there something wrong?"
"Don't worry, just wait." Although Sokov was panicking, he still pretended to be calm and said, "Maybe if you wait a little longer, there will be news."
Just as Sokov raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, a pack of cigarettes was handed to him. Peter nodded at him and said, "Comrade Colonel, don't be anxious. Let's wait and have a cigarette first."
After Sokov thanked Peter, he took out a cigarette from the cigarette case and held it in his mouth. Zinchenko quickly lit a match and lit the cigarette for him and Peter. Perhaps in order to relieve the tension in the room, Peter took a puff of cigarette and asked Sokov with a smile: "Comrade Colonel, I heard that our soldiers were able to seize a lot of German cigarettes when cleaning the battlefield. We will seize them next time Can you send me a few boxes of German cigarettes?”
"No problem." Sokov knew that when the soldiers were cleaning the battlefield, except for some very addicted soldiers, no one would ask for German cigarettes. Everyone generally believed that German cigarettes smelled like horse manure. Sokov had smoked once before, and it was indeed extremely difficult to smoke. However, since Peter wanted to taste the taste of German cigarettes, he could ask the soldiers to find a few boxes for him when they were cleaning the battlefield, so he agreed very readily: "Once we take over the Workers' New Village, I will ask the soldiers to send you a few boxes of German cigarettes."
"That's great, let's make it a deal." After Peter finished speaking, he stood up and walked to the door, shouting outside, "Someone is coming!"
At his shout, a workman in civilian clothes carrying a rifle entered the room, straightened up, and waited for Peter's order. Peter pointed at him with his hand and ordered: "Take two people and observe the direction of Workers' New Village. If you hear any movement, report it to us immediately!"
After the workers left, Peter said to Sokov: "Colonel Sokov, if there is any movement in the Workers' New Village, my people will come back immediately to report it."
Seeing that Peter had already sent people to observe the movement in the direction of the Workers' New Village, Sokov did not add any more details and asked Samoilov to lead people to perform the same task. He pointed to the phone on the table and asked Zinchenko in a consultative tone: "Comrade deputy director, can you call Mamaev Gang for me? I want to know the situation there."
In order to facilitate the command, Peter specially asked the factory's telephone operator to install a high-frequency telephone in the duty room before dark. Without the help of the two factory directors, Sokov would not be able to connect anywhere. Fortunately, Sokov and Zinchenko had a good relationship, and the other party agreed readily: "Comrade Colonel, please wait a moment, I will call you immediately."
Two minutes later, Zinchenko took the microphone and said to Sokov: "Comrade Colonel, we have contacted Mamaev Gang."
Sokov took the phone and heard clearly that the voice coming from it was Sidorin's voice. He didn't go around in circles and asked directly: "Chief of Staff, this is Sokov. How is the situation at Mamayev Heights? "
"We repelled four German attacks during the day." Sidorin quickly replied: "According to statistics, a total of six German tanks and assault guns were destroyed, and more than 500 German soldiers were killed..."
"Well done." Sokov felt very satisfied when he heard such results. Although there were not as many destroyed tanks and assault guns as there were in Workers' New Village, it was entirely because the terrain of the Mamayev Hills was not conducive to the use of armored forces, so the number of tanks and assault guns invested by the Germans would be much smaller. He then asked: "Where are our small teams that went deep behind enemy lines? What results have they achieved?"
Hearing Sokov's question, Sidorin hesitated for a moment, and then replied: "A small team sent by the drawdown regiment attacked a German battalion command post last night and killed more than a dozen lieutenant-level officers, as well as There are more than thirty soldiers. The small teams of several other regiments have not achieved any results."
"What, the other teams failed to achieve results?" Regarding this result, Sokov asked with some surprise: "Comrade Chief of Staff, why is this?"
"This, this..." Sidorin became a little hesitant when he heard Sokov's question, not knowing how to answer it. At this moment, Sokov suddenly heard Ivanov's voice coming from the receiver: "Comrade Commander, I'll report this to you."
"Hello, Comrade Deputy Division Commander." Sokov guessed that the reason why Sidorin was hesitating must have something to do with Ivanov. Since he was willing to explain it to him in person, that was the best thing: "If you have anything to say, you can Just say it.”
"Comrade Division Commander, my unit has been engaged in face-to-face positional warfare with the enemy since its formation. This kind of harassment warfare behind enemy lines has never been fought before." Ivanov explained to Sokov with a bitter look on his face: "It may take them a few days to get used to it before they learn how to fight behind enemy lines."
After listening to Ivanov's explanation, Sokov felt that this was normal. Letting troops who were used to fighting regular warfare to fight guerrilla warfare would not be something they could adapt to in a short time. It would take a while. Therefore, he said reasonably: "I understand, Comrade Deputy Division Commander, please tell the commanders of the other regiments to let them adapt to fighting in the enemy's rear as soon as possible. Let them understand that in order to defeat the enemy, it is not only necessary to Fight the enemy head-on, but also learn to get behind the enemy and disrupt them."
"I understand." Seeing that Sokov did not blame himself, Ivanov couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly straightened his body and replied: "I will tell the other group leaders what you said." After saying these words, he paused for a moment and asked cautiously, "Comrade division commander, how is the situation there at your place? Are there any heavy casualties among our troops holding on to Workers' New Village?"
"Comrade Division Commander, my unit has been engaged in face-to-face positional warfare with the enemy since its formation. This kind of harassment warfare behind enemy lines has never been fought before." Ivanov explained to Sokov with a bitter look on his face: "It may take them a few days to get used to it before they learn how to fight behind enemy lines."
After listening to Ivanov's explanation, Sokov felt that this was normal. Letting troops who were used to fighting regular warfare to fight guerrilla warfare would not be something they could adapt to in a short time. It would take a while. Therefore, he said reasonably: "I understand, Comrade Deputy Division Commander, please tell the commanders of the other regiments to let them adapt as soon as possible how to fight in the enemy's rear. We must let them understand that in order to defeat the enemy, we must not only fight in the enemy's rear" Fight the enemy head-on, but also learn to get behind the enemy and disrupt them."
"I understand." Seeing that Sokov did not blame himself, Ivanov couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly straightened his body and replied: "I will tell the other group leaders what you said." After finishing these words, he paused for a moment and asked cautiously, "Comrade division commander, how is the situation there at your place? Are there any heavy casualties among our troops holding on to Workers' New Village?"
