After Chuikov read the telegram forwarded by Yeremenko, he immediately jumped up from his seat and said repeatedly: "Impossible, this is an impossible task. In order to relieve the transportation pressure of the fleet in the Volga River area, we have all moved the artillery to The purpose of the east bank is to free up space for transporting artillery shells to transport more important supplies. If we were really able to transport three full divisions into the city within three days, our situation would not be as difficult as it is now. ”
After saying this, Chuikov saw Gurov looking at him blankly, and quickly handed over the telegram in his hand and said to him: "Comrade Military Commissar, the superiors have given us a difficult problem and asked us to use three Transporting three full infantry divisions into the city in one day is simply an impossible task."
Gurov took the telegram and read it carefully. His brows furrowed more and more as he read it. After reading the telegram, he put it on the table and said: "Comrade Commander, at the end of the telegram it is mentioned that the task of all the troops crossing the Volga River within three days has been handed over to Colonel Sokov. what's going on?"
"I think it may be that the superiors saw that we had taken Colonel Sokov as the only candidate and were ready to test him, so they specifically asked him to complete this task." Chuikov said with interest: "Actually, I I also want to see if Sokov is capable of completing the task assigned to him by his superiors."
"Director of the Communications Corps." Chuikov shouted to the side. After hearing Colonel Yulin's reply, he then asked: "Is the telephone line between us and the front army headquarters open?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander, the communication line has always been open." After Colonel Yulin finished answering, he proactively asked: "Do I need to connect you to the front army headquarters?"
"That's right, Comrade Colonel." Chuikov nodded and said, "I want to speak to Commander Yereomenko to find out what this telegram is about."
The call was quickly connected. When Yeremenko's voice came from the receiver, Chuikov quickly said respectfully: "Hello, Comrade Commander, I am Chuikov!"
"It's Chuikov." Yeremenko recognized the call from Chuikov, looked at each other and smiled at Khrushchev, who was sitting across the table, and then asked, "What do you want from me?"
"Comrade Commander, I'm calling you about the telegram I just received." Chuikov said with some embarrassment: "I think our superiors asked us to get through the three newly arrived full-strength divisions within three days. I think this is an impossible task for the Volga River. If we carry out a forced crossing at all costs, our troops will suffer heavy losses from the enemy's shelling and bombing."
"Comrade Chuikov, I understand what you are trying to express." After carefully studying the contents of the message, Yeremenko and Khrushchev discovered the mystery, but they deliberately did not reveal it to Chuikov and pretended to be serious. He said like this: "But orders from superiors are orders. As subordinates, we can only obey orders instead of discussing orders. Do you understand what I mean?"
"I understand, I understand." After Chuikov said "I understand" twice, he said awkwardly: "The superior gave this problem to Colonel Sokov. Can he complete such a task?"
Naturally, Yeremenko would not tell Chuikov that the superior issued such an order solely to test Sokov and see what his abilities were, so as to decide whether to entrust him with important tasks. He deliberately said with a straight face: "Comrade Chuikov, you haven't even tried it. How do you know that Colonel Sokov can't complete such a task? Let me remind you that the three full divisions will reach us in two days." Here, that is to say, there are only two days left for you to think of a solution, you must hurry up, otherwise it will be too late when the troops arrive on the east coast."
Chuikov was here in Yereomenko. Apart from knowing that three full divisions would arrive in two days, Chuikov never got any useful information. He put down the phone with great disappointment, shook his head at Gurov who was sitting next to him, and said: "Commander Yereomenko said that this is an order from the superior, and there is no room for bargaining."
"Maybe we should call Colonel Sokov to see if he can do anything." Gurov said slowly: "If the superior didn't think he could come up with a way, why would he name him in the telegram and ask him to do the task? Leave it to him?"
Gurov's words awakened the dreamer, and Chuikov, who was in a corner, suddenly felt enlightened: "Yes, Comrade Military Commissar, if you hadn't told me, I wouldn't have thought of this. I'll call him right now, Let him come to the headquarters immediately."
Sokov stayed at his headquarters and felt bored as never before, because the enemy not only stopped attacking the Mamayev Heights, but even the attack on the Workers' New Village was ineffective. The charging infantry stopped at 500 A few meters away, guns were fired indiscriminately at the workers' new village that had turned into ruins. The soldiers were unwilling to continue charging forward at all.
Hearing the news, Ivanov asked Sokov in confusion: "Comrade division commander, what is going on? According to Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko's report, the enemies attacking Workers' New Village do not look like they are fighting, but It’s like going through the motions.”
"Comrade Deputy Division Commander, there is nothing surprising." Sokov waved his hand at Ivanov and said disapprovingly: "The two battalions that attacked Workers' New Village yesterday were wiped out by us, and a large amount of weapons and ammunition were also seized. The enemy is worried that if they attack again, they will make the same mistake again, so as long as the Germans don't keep a close eye on them, the attack they launch is just a formality."
"Then do we need to launch another assault on the enemy?" After listening to Sokov's explanation, Ivanov asked tentatively: "I think the enemy has already lost their fighting spirit after yesterday's disastrous defeat. If we take the initiative to attack again, we will definitely be able to Achieve great results.”
"No, we can't take the initiative to launch an attack." Unexpectedly, his proposal was rejected by Sokov. Sokov said solemnly: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, if the enemy in front of us has always been the army of the slave country, then the enemy will basically have no possibility of capturing Mamayev Hill. This will ensure that the defenders inside the city and the troops outside the city can Contact will not be interrupted.
But if they take the initiative and defeat the Romanian army in front of them, once the Germans see that their losers are no match for us, they may personally take action and launch powerful fortifications against our defense area. By then, the situation at Mamayev Hill will be different. Becoming grim. In order to avoid this situation, we must ensure that the Romanian army continues to stay on the front of our army. "
As soon as Sokov explained his intention to Ivanov, the phone rang. After answering the phone, Sidorin said to Sokov: "Comrade division commander, the call came from the commander. He ordered you to rush to the headquarters immediately and said that there is an extremely important task that must be completed by you."
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