As soon as the call was connected, the location of the headquarters was bombed by enemy planes. In order to report the information to Yeremenko in time, Chuikov did not leave his headquarters, but continued to hold the microphone and talk to Yeremenko. call.
Due to the constant deafening explosions coming from the receiver, Yeremenko had a lot of effort to hear clearly the content of Chuikov's report. After pondering for a while, he asked loudly: "Comrade Chuikov, are you sure of success in taking such a large-scale action behind enemy lines?"
Before Chuikov could answer, he said to himself: "More than two thousand troops are planned to go into battle, which is almost the total strength of our guerrillas behind enemy lines. Have you considered that once we fail, we Will the armed forces behind enemy lines be completely lost?"
"I have considered it, Comrade Commander." Chuikov waited for Yereomenko to finish and then replied respectfully: "This is a risky move. If it fails, our army's strength behind enemy lines will be destroyed." But once the offensive is successful, it will weaken the enemy's attack on the factory area. I think this risk is worth taking."
Although Yeremenko is the commander of the front army, his command ability and level are still weaker than Chuikov. He only considered the possible adverse effects of launching an offensive behind enemy lines, but did not see this operation. It may improve the situation between the enemy and the enemy in the city. Therefore, he stubbornly said: "Comrade Chuikov, I don't agree with you. We don't know how long it will take to crush the enemy's attack on Stalingrad. If the armed forces behind the enemy's rear are consumed prematurely, then The enemy can concentrate all its energy on attacking the city, and the already precarious situation will further deteriorate."
Chuikov reported Guchakov's battle plan to Yeremenko, hoping that the other party would provide some help within his ability for this offensive launched behind enemy lines, such as sending planes to bomb the enemy's reinforcements; or asking Roko from the north to Sovsky's troops launched a feint attack to draw the attention of the enemy's forces, etc. But at this moment, before these ideas of his were put forward, they were rejected by the other party. Chuikov felt very unconvinced.
Even though he had just finished the call with Sokov, he immediately called Yereomenko to report. The interval in between was very short, but it did not prevent him from weighing the combat plan repeatedly in his mind. He felt that launching an offensive behind enemy lines at this time would be helpful in reversing the unfavorable situation in the city.
It was out of this consideration that he ignored Yereomenko's objections and continued to say to the other party: "Comrade Commander, the main forces of the German army are in the factory area in the north of the city. They are engaged in fierce battles with our army. Their forces in the rear are It will inevitably become weak. I think Captain Guchakov’s organization of this offensive behind enemy lines has a positive meaning.”
"Comrade Chuikov," Yeremenko was surprised to see Chuikov continue to insist on his point of view. After being silent for a while, he said into the microphone: "This matter is of great importance, and I cannot make a decision easily. I will report the matter to the base camp immediately to see what the Supreme Commander himself thinks. After the results are available, , I’ll let you know.” After saying that, Chuikov hung up the phone without giving Chuikov a chance to argue.
Khrushchev, who was sitting opposite Yeremenko, roughly heard what Chuikov said clearly. After Yeremenko put down the phone, he asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, this is just a small offensive battle." , is it really necessary to alert the base camp?”
"Comrade Military Commissar," Yeremenko saw Khrushchev's indifferent expression and guessed that the other party did not realize the impact of the action here, so he said to him seriously: "Although the number of people who are about to go into battle is Not many, only about 2,000 people. But including those non-combatants, I estimate that the total number will be more than 4,000. This is our entire strength behind enemy lines. If we lose it rashly, the enemy will no longer have to worry about it. We can concentrate our forces and launch a more violent attack on the city. I can't make the final decision on this matter and need to report it to my superiors immediately."
After listening to Yeremenko's explanation, Khrushchev also realized the seriousness of the problem. After careful consideration, he said to Yeremenko: "Comrade Commander, let's send a joint telegram to convey this combat plan. Report to the High Command Headquarters.”
Seeing that Khrushchev took the initiative to raise this matter, Yeremenko did not show any pretense. After nodding, he said: "I will draft the message now. After you and I sign it, we will send it out directly."
After Chuikov finished reporting his work, he did not get Yeremenko's approval. He was about to call Sokov to talk about the matter. Krylov, who had just received a call, reported to him in panic: "Commander Comrade Comrade Communist, the enemy infantry, under the cover of ten tanks and six assault guns, has rushed into the Dzerzhinsky Factory, and now most of the factory area has fallen into the hands of the Germans."
"What?" Chuikov was startled by Krylov's news. He asked with a straight face: "Isn't it the 45th Infantry Division who is responsible for the defense of the factory now? Why didn't they block the enemy's attack?"
"Our troops lack anti-tank weapons," Krylov replied with a grimace: "Although the soldiers performed very tenaciously, their flesh and blood bodies could not stop the enemy tanks at all..."
"I understand." Chuikov didn't wait for Krylov to finish what he said before interrupting him: "Sokov and his friends are going to get a batch of anti-tank weapons soon. I'll see if I can get him to share some of them with us. "
Hearing what Chuikov said, Krylov couldn't help but shook his head and said with a wry smile: "Other troops, as soon as they heard that we wanted something, they immediately sent it over without saying a word; but here, Sokov wanted something, It’s simply harder than climbing to the sky. Comrade Commander, I think even if you make this call, I’m afraid it won’t have any effect.”
"How will you know if you don't try." Chuikov agreed very much with Krylov's statement. Compared with other division commanders under the group army, Sokov was very stingy. He could always find many reasons to get any weapons from him. Come and decline. Chuikov sometimes even had the illusion that the other party was the commander, and he was just a division commander under him, and he could only talk to him in a consultative tone.
After the call was connected, Chuikov heard that the person who answered the phone was Sokov, and he directly identified himself: "Hello, Colonel Sokov, I am Chuikov."
"Hello, Comrade Commander." After hearing the telegram from Chuikov, Sokov thought to himself, could it be that Guchakov was preparing to launch an offensive? Are there any changes? Thinking of this, he asked guiltily: "What instructions do you have?"
"The enemy has stormed into the Dzerzhinsky Factory and occupied most of the factory area." Chuikov did not beat around the bush and said straightforwardly: "I am here to ask for help from you."
"Ask me for help?!" When Sokov heard this, he couldn't help but feel a little in his heart. He thought to himself that he was not going to transfer any of my troops to reinforce the Dzerzhinsky factory, right? He tried to control his emotions and said in a calm tone: "Comrade Commander, do you plan to ask me to send troops for reinforcements?"
"There is no need for reinforcements. The militiamen in the factory plus the regular army are quite large." Chuikov's answer surprised him. "The reason why they couldn't stop the German attack was because the enemy deployed tanks and assault guns. They Without anti-tank weapons, no matter how heroic you are, you will not be able to block the enemy's steel with your own flesh and blood. Therefore, I plan to give some of the anti-tank weapons given to you by your superiors to the troops defending the Dzerzhinsky Factory .”
"Comrade Commander," Sokov suddenly felt more at ease when he learned that Chuikov had called him and just wanted some anti-tank weapons. This way, he would not have to worry about unnecessary losses to his troops: "The new anti-tank weapons given to us by our superiors have not arrived yet. Once they arrive, I will immediately distribute some of them to friendly forces."
Chuikov did not expect Sokov to agree so readily. There was no need to say many of the things he had prepared. He hesitated for a moment and then asked: "I have only one last question, when will the new anti-tank weapons be delivered?"
"I don't know, Comrade Commander." Sokov answered simply, "When Yakov called me, he said it would arrive in about five days. But you also know our transportation situation. Even if the items are transported to the east bank, it will still take a lot of trouble to transport them across the river. To be honest, I am also looking forward to these anti-tank weapons so that they can be used against German tanks."
"So, we have to wait for another two days." Sokov's answer somewhat disappointed Chuikov. In other words, the 45th Infantry Division holding on to the Dzerzhinsky Factory must rely on its own flesh and blood. After resisting the German army for two or three days, they had the opportunity to equip themselves with traveling anti-tank weapons issued by their superiors.
Just when Chuikov was considering whether to call Colonel Sokolov, commander of the 45th Infantry Division, to ask his men to hold on for another two days, he unexpectedly heard Sokov say: "Comrade Commander, although there is currently no decent counterattack, Tank weapons, but it’s not that difficult to defend the factory area?”
If someone else had said such a thing, Chuikov's first reaction would have been that he was bragging. But since these words came from Sokov's mouth, Chuikov had to take them seriously. He was silent for a moment and said calmly: "Colonel Sokov, if you have any good ideas, tell me quickly."
"Comrade Commander, my troops once participated in the battle at the Dzerzhinsky Factory, and I also carefully inspected the terrain there." Sokov said into the microphone: "I found that the factory was surrounded by the Mokraya or some other river. surround……"
"It's the Mokraya Mechetka River." Seeing that Sokov couldn't remember the name of the river next to the factory, Chuikov reminded him and urged: "Continue quickly, what does this river remind you of? "
"I once asked the soldiers who participated in the factory battle, and they said that there were three road bridges across the river." Sokov felt that the name of the river was too difficult to pronounce, so he did not mention the name of the river again, but used the name of the river. Instead, "The enemy's tanks and assault guns enter the factory area through these road bridges. My idea is to blow up all these road bridges..."
"What, you said blowing up the highway bridge?" Chuikov was surprised. "Blow up the bridge, how will our people cross the river? You must know that the river is more than thirty meters wide and the water depth is more than three meters. You can't let us Everyone will swim over, right?"
Although Sokov has never been to the Dzerzhinsky factory in person, he doesn't know what the river there is like. But he clearly remembered watching a movie about the Battle of Stalingrad when he was a child. This old movie was shot in the late 1940s and personally reviewed by Stalin himself. It truly restored the topography of the city. In order to facilitate the crossing of the river, workers built many pontoon bridges on the river. These pontoons are made of empty oil drums. They are fixed with ropes and thrown into the water to bear the weight of people.
It was precisely because of his understanding of this simple pontoon bridge that Sokov proposed blowing up the road bridges surrounding the factory. Seeing that Chuikov expressed his incomprehension at this moment, he explained to him: "Comrade Commander, even if we blow up all the highway bridges, it will be very easy for us to cross the bridges. There are so many empty oil drums in the factory, as long as we use ropes After being bundled and thrown into the river, it can become a simple pontoon bridge. Even if it is destroyed by German artillery fire, we can build a new bridge in the shortest time."
"Colonel Sokov," Chuikov patiently waited for Sokov to finish, then sighed softly and said with a bit of laughter: "As early as August, the factory workers built many such floating bridges on the river. . But I can’t think of any connection between this and protecting the factory?”
"Comrade Commander, I want to ask you." Seeing that Chuikov did not understand his intention, Sokov asked with a smile: "Can this kind of simple pontoon bridge bear the weight of tanks and assault guns?"
"How is this possible? A simple pontoon bridge built with empty oil drums can pass people just fine. Not to mention such heavy tanks and assault guns, even if a much lighter truck gets on the bridge, it will sink immediately..." Chuikov When he said this, he suddenly froze, and he suddenly realized what Sokov was going to tell him. After a moment of silence, he asked tentatively: "Colonel Sokov, if I understand correctly, you mean that after blowing up all the highway bridges, we will only use this kind of pontoon bridge made of gasoline barrels to pass, and the enemy will Tanks and armored vehicles cannot cross the bridge?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander, that's exactly what I mean."
"How is this possible? A simple pontoon bridge built with empty oil drums can pass people just fine. Not to mention such heavy tanks and assault guns, even if a much lighter truck gets on the bridge, it will sink immediately..." Chuikov When he said this, he suddenly froze, and he suddenly realized what Sokov was going to tell him. After a moment of silence, he asked tentatively: "Colonel Sokov, if I understand correctly, you mean that after blowing up all the highway bridges, we will only use this kind of pontoon bridge made of gasoline barrels to pass, and the enemy will Tanks and armored vehicles cannot cross the bridge?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander, that's exactly what I mean."
