"... What ultimately determines the outcome of any battle is spiritual power. To confirm this conclusion, there are ready-made examples..." Early the next morning, a strange voice sounded in the room, waking Sokov from his sleep. Before he opened his eyes, he asked himself in his mind: "Strange, this seems to be the voice of Commander Chuikov. He is not commanding the battle in the headquarters, so what is he doing here?"
Sokov sat up with his eyes closed, rubbed his eyes, and then looked around the room carefully. He saw Sidorin standing at the table with his back to him, leaning over to look at something on the table. In a slightly distant corner, several communications soldiers and staff officers were still busy as before, but Chuikov was nowhere to be seen.
"Chief of Staff," although Chuikov's shadow was not seen, his voice still echoed in the room. Sokov couldn't help but curiously asked: "Comrade Commander, are you here? Why don't I see anyone else?"
"Comrade Commander, you're awake." Sidorin, who was looking down at something, heard Sokov's voice, turned around and greeted him with a smile: "Why don't you sleep a little longer."
"Chief of Staff, you haven't answered my question yet, where is Comrade Commander?" Sokov repeated his question again.
"Comrade Commander is naturally in his headquarters, why would he come to us?" When Sidorin said this, he shrugged involuntarily, "Our defense area is not the focus of the enemy's attack, even if the Commander If you want to come out for inspection, you won’t choose our place.”
Sokov looked around and tried hard to find the source of the sound: "But, how did I hear the commander's voice?"
"Oh, it turns out you were talking about Comrade Commander giving a speech." Sidorin pointed to the top of the door with his hand and explained to Sokov: "According to your instructions, we installed it in the tunnel two days ago. I bought a wired speaker so I can listen to news from the outside world at any time.”
Looking in the direction of Sidorin's finger, Sokov saw a square box hanging above the door, and Chuikov's voice came from there. He walked over quickly, looked up at the box, and listened carefully to Chuikov's speech: "...Where is the source of why our fighters are so determined and tenacious? To answer this question, Hitler's strategists have the right to think that we Possessing some kind of fortifications and some kind of special weapons prevented them from winning even though they clearly had an advantage in strength..."
After listening for a while, Sokov turned to Sidorin and asked: "Chief of Staff, do you know what Comrade Commander is talking about?"
"The situation is like this," Sidorin left the table, walked to Sokov, and explained to him: "Due to the unfavorable war situation in the direction of the factory area, some problems have arisen in the army. Some commanders and soldiers are not sure whether we can obtain The final victory was shaken ideologically. After consultation, the commander and the military commissar decided to give a speech to strengthen the commanders and soldiers' belief in victory."
"... We firmly believe in victory, and we have never betrayed this belief for a minute: our cause is just, and what we defend is a progressive society and a bright life for future generations. The enemy must perish! This is not Slogans are not speeches at mass rallies, but our eternal beliefs, the motivation for our fighting power and the source of our bravery."
After patiently listening to Chuikov's speech, Sokov walked back to the table and sat down. He said to Sidorin who followed him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, this speech delivered by the commander is of great significance to all the troops holding Stalingrad." It is a huge encouragement that they will strengthen their confidence in victory and bravely continue to fight the enemy until they achieve the final victory."
Sidorin agreed with Sokov's statement: "You are right, Comrade Division Commander, although the enemy continues to attack our army, their offensive intensity is not as strong as before. In other words, the enemy continues to attack our army. , before long, their attack will have to stop, and we will launch a large-scale counterattack."
Sokov calculated the time for the major counterattack in his mind, and found that there were still more than twenty days to go. In the days before the official counterattack, the supply to the city from the other side will have to be interrupted for a period of time due to too much floating ice on the water. If you don't start storing supplies now, your troops may be short of supplies by then.
Thinking of this, he said to Sidorin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the weather is getting colder and colder now. Before the Volga River freezes completely, I am afraid that there will be too many ambushes on the river for a while and ships will not be able to pass. Therefore, We now need to find ways to stockpile enough supplies to avoid shortages in the future.”
"Comrade Commander," Sidorin said with a hint of bitterness on his face after hearing Sokov's plan: "To be honest, if it were possible, I would try to fill the underground warehouse in Mamayev Heights. But it won't work. , the supplies given to us by our superiors have been allocated in advance. Even if we send more people, they will still only be able to give us the specified amount of supplies..."
When the two of them were worrying about possible shortages of supplies, a joyful voice suddenly came from the door: "Hello, comrades, commanders!"
Sokov looked in the direction of the sound and found that it was Anisimov, the division political commissar who had not been seen for a long time. He quickly waved to the other party and said politely: "Hello, Comrade Political Commissar, I haven't seen you for a long time. How are you lately?"
Anisimov quickly walked over and shook hands with Sokov and Sidorin one by one, and replied with a smile: "Comrade division commander, in fact, I have been returning to the division headquarters frequently recently, but unfortunately, every time I Come back, you're not here." After saying that, he half-turned around, pointed to the black box hanging above the door, and said to Sokov somewhat triumphantly, "Comrade division commander, have you seen that black box? Last time you proposed to Installing loudspeakers in the tunnels allows soldiers to listen to news from the outside. Yesterday, I organized manpower to install more than 30 such boxes in the tunnels to ensure that all soldiers can hear news from the outside."
Anisimov's work efficiency still made Sokov very satisfied. He gave the other party a thumbs up and said approvingly: "Comrade Political Commissar, you did a great job! With this box, our soldiers Not only can you keep track of what’s going on outside, but you won’t be too bored staying in the tunnel at the same time.”
"By the way, Comrade Division Commander and Chief of Staff." After hearing Sokov's praise, Anisimov said a few polite words, and then changed the subject: "I have something to discuss with you."
"What's going on?" Sokov asked briefly.
"In more than a week, it will be the Great October Revolution Day." Anisimov said to Sokov happily: "Comrade Commander, I plan to let the soldiers have a sumptuous meal during the festival." Siberian dumplings'. I would like to ask you to come forward and ask the Army Logistics Director for some meat. In addition to pork, it is best to ask for some beef."
"Siberian dumplings?!" Sokov thought to himself. Dumplings are just dumplings. Is there any difference between Siberian dumplings and Stalingrad dumplings? And I have only eaten dumplings stuffed with leek and pork, cabbage and pork, but I have never eaten dumplings stuffed with beef. With this curiosity, he asked: "Why do you need beef?"
Seeing Sokov's confused look, Anisimov quickly explained to him: "Authentic Siberian dumplings must contain at least two kinds of meat - beef and pork. If you can add some mutton or poultry, That’s even better.”
"Comrade Chief of Staff knows better!" Anisimov waited for Sidorin to finish speaking, then nodded approvingly, and continued: "In addition to the mixed fillings of beef and pork, the authentic Siberian dumplings must also be wrapped after being wrapped. They must be frozen first and then cooked. Perhaps it is the freezing before cooking that makes Siberian dumplings juicy and delicious. Also, dumplings are usually cooked in chicken or beef broth, with sour cream when eaten. "
Anisimov's words made Sokov feel like he wanted to drool. After wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he asked: "Comrade Political Commissar, although there have been occasional snows or two recently, the temperature It’s not low enough. If you put the wrapped dumplings outside, you can’t freeze them?”
"I have stayed in Stalingrad for two years before," Anisimov said carelessly: "Starting from November, the weather will be very cold and the whole city will be covered with snow. By then we can Put the wrapped dumplings outside in the snow to freeze, and then bring them in to cook when it’s time to eat. But the first problem at hand is that we don’t have beef, and the amount of pork is also very limited.”
Sokov heard Anisimov's voiceover telling him to go to the Minister of Logistics and ask for meat. He said without hesitation: "Don't worry, Comrade Political Commissar, I will call General Lobov later and I will definitely find a way to get enough pork and beef from him."
"Great, this is really great." Seeing that Sokov agreed to his request, Anisimov was really overjoyed: "In this way, the commanders and fighters of our division can have a delicious meal on the holiday. Siberian dumplings.”
Even though Sokov agreed so readily, he actually had no confidence at all. The supply in the city is so tight that some troops have difficulty eating dry bread, let alone meat. At this time, I called Lobov and asked him for beef and pork. Can he agree to it?
But now that he had made a promise to Anisimov, even if the hope was slim, Sokov felt like taking a chance. He asked the operator to connect the phone to the Army Logistics Department, and waited anxiously for the other party to pick up the phone.
Not long after, the call was connected. A hoarse voice came from the receiver: "I am Lobov, where are you?"
"Hello, General Lobov." Sokov heard that the person who answered the phone was Lobov, and said quickly: "I am Colonel Sokov, commander of the 41st Guards Division."
"It turns out to be Colonel Sokov." Lobov asked politely: "How can I help you?"
"Comrade General," Sokov said hesitantly: "In more than a week, it will be the Great October Revolution Day. I think... I think..."
In the case of insufficient supplies of supplies, Sokov was somewhat embarrassed to ask the Minister of Logistics for beef and pork, which are now considered luxuries. He hesitated and said "I want to" several times, but nothing came of it. Fortunately, Lobov had already received a similar call today. Hearing Sokov's delay in replying, he guessed the other party's intention and asked tentatively: "Comrade Colonel, you called me because you wanted to talk to me." Make dumplings with beef and pork?"
"Yes, Comrade General, that's what I mean." Seeing that the other party had guessed his intention, Sokov blushed and asked, "I wonder if you can provide us with the supplies we need."
"If someone else asked this question, I would definitely tell him without hesitation: No!" Lobov said with a smile: "But your situation is different. If you hadn't suggested building an underwater pontoon bridge, the supplies for the troops in the city would The supply will be ten times worse than it is now. For this reason, even if you don't ask, I will send someone to deliver things to you."
"This is great, Comrade General." When he learned that Lobov agreed to provide beef and pork to his troops, Sokov was overjoyed: "On behalf of the commanders and fighters of the entire division, thank you."
"I won't tell you what the situation is in the city now, but you should know it in your mind." After a pause, Lobov continued: "So I can only provide you with 500 kilograms of pork and 100 kilograms of beef. As for I don’t have any mutton or chicken here.”
Sokov originally considered that if Lobov gave himself too little meat, he would have to make less meat-filled dumplings and more mashed potato-filled dumplings to make up for it. Unexpectedly, Lobov was so generous and gave himself six hundred kilograms of meat at once. This was an unexpected surprise.
Before Sokov could express his gratitude again, Lobov continued: "In addition to meat, I will provide you with two hundred kilograms of dark chocolate and coffee for three hundred people. I have given you so many supplies. This is the limit within my scope of authority, even if you want to ask for more, there is nothing I can do.”
"That's enough, Comrade General, the supplies you provided us are enough." Sokov once again expressed his gratitude to Lobov: "On behalf of the commanders and fighters of the entire division, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to you and the comrades in the logistics department."
"Okay, don't say these useless words." Lobov interrupted Sokov's next words: "As long as you can block the enemy and prevent them from occupying Mamayev Heights, ensure that supplies and energy from the other side continue to flow from the ferry. Going ashore is better than anything else." When he put down the phone, he thought of another key question, and told Sokov, "Comrade Colonel, the amount of supplies I gave you must be kept strictly confidential. Never let anyone know. Other troops know, otherwise I have the right to take back the supplies allocated to you. Do you understand?"
Sokov naturally understands that there are too many people and there is not enough inventory to distribute supplies. Once other troops know that General Lobov has given him so many supplies, they will definitely not be reconciled and will go to him to ask for things. In order to prevent Lobov from being embarrassed, he quickly promised: "Comrade General, please rest assured that except for a few commanders responsible for receiving supplies, I will not let more people know about this matter."
