Red Moscow

  Chapter 306 Construction Plan

   I have to say that during the war, the old man who always procrastinated was quite efficient sometimes. At dawn the next day, Ozor brought a group of construction workers to Mamayev Kurgan with two carts of shovels and picks, ready to start building fortifications here.

   All the workers came. As the master, Sokov absolutely had no reason to continue to sleep in the tent. He could only come out to greet Ozor with a forced smile while cursing Ozor in his heart. He held the other party's hand and said with a smile: "Comrade Major, I didn't expect you to come so early. It's really hard work."

Ozor grinned, and then put forward his own conditions to Sokov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I plan to arrange manpower today to clear the bushes and weeds on Mamayev Hill, and then start the construction of the fortifications. But I only have more than a hundred people under my command, can you lend me some soldiers to help me?"

Since Ozor was repairing the fortification for himself, Sokov naturally would not be stingy, and quickly ordered Sergey to follow behind: "Sergesha, immediately send someone to inform the four battalion commanders, and let them come to me immediately .”

After Seryozha ran away, Sokov said to Ozor in a conferring tone: "Comrade Major, I have a discussion with you. You see that the entire Mamayev Hill is so large that the upper Clearing up the bushes and weeds is such a big project. Even if I send 2,000 people to help you, it won’t be completed in a day or two.”

  Ozor is also a smart man. Hearing what Sokov said, he tentatively asked: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, what do you mean you don't need to clean up the bushes and weeds on the hills, and start building fortifications directly?"

"That's right, that's what I mean. If the bushes and weeds are not cleared, it can also serve as a concealment. Otherwise, the German reconnaissance planes will be able to find our fortifications on the hills from a long distance in the air." Said After finishing his thoughts, Sokov asked back: "This won't make the construction more difficult for you, will it?"

   "No, no," Ozor shook his head and replied, "The bushes and weeds on the hill were cleared in advance, just to make the built fortifications more eye-catching..."

"Don't, don't, Major Ozor, the fortifications you built must not be too eye-catching." Hearing this, Sokov quickly waved his hand and interrupted him, "If the Germans can spot it at a glance, then Our fortifications will become the target of their shelling and bombing, it is better to hide, the more concealed the better."

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Ozor wrote down Sokov's request in a small notebook, and then asked: "Also, you said that you want to build two to three tunnels between the north and south slopes. I wonder if we should How will it be constructed?"

What Ozor said stunned Sokov. He is not a construction engineer in the army, so he naturally knows nothing about construction. He grinned and asked a little embarrassedly: "Comrade major, don't you know how to build tunnels?" What construction methods are there?"

As soon as he heard Sokov asking about his professional skills, Ozor immediately became more talkative: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, there are three construction methods for building tunnels: open-cut method, cover-excavation method and underground excavation method." When Ozor said this, he intentionally paused for a moment to observe the other party's expression, and seeing Sokov's bewildered expression, he knew that the other party was an out-and-out layman, so he continued, "Tomorrow The excavation method refers to the construction method of excavating the ground, excavating earth and rock from top to bottom to the design elevation, constructing sequentially from the base from bottom to top, completing the main structure of the tunnel, and finally backfilling the foundation pit or restoring the ground. The advantages of this excavation method , the construction technology is simple, fast and economical; the disadvantage is that it is easy to be discovered by German reconnaissance planes during the construction process."

  After listening to the first construction method, Sokov asked noncommittally: "What about the cover-excavation method and underground excavation method?"

  Ozor said: "The cover-excavation method is to excavate the ground down to a certain depth, then close the top, and the rest of the sub-projects are constructed under the closed roof. The main structure can be constructed in a forward or reverse way..."

   "Wait a minute, Comrade Major." Sokov was not interested in the cover-excavation method. He only heard half of it, and he couldn't wait to interrupt the content behind Ozor. As for the rest of the underground excavation method, even if Ozor didn’t say anything, Sokov knew that the construction needs to be done underground, but he still asked casually: “We will not consider the cover excavation method, you still talk about the underground excavation method. Let's dig."

Ozor nodded, and began to introduce the cover-and-excavation method to Sokov: "The underground excavation method is a tunnel construction method that does not excavate the ground under certain conditions, but excavates and builds lining structures underground. In places near the Volga River, it is more difficult to implement this construction method because it involves a series of work such as drainage and soil removal." After introducing the three construction methods, Ozor looked at Sokov and asked, " Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I don't know which method you plan to use for construction?

"Comrade Major, didn't I say to build two to three tunnels?" Sokov said carefully: "Then we can use two tunnels to be constructed at the same time, one by open-cut method and the other by underground method. The efficiency of one construction method is high, and which construction method is used for the remaining tunnel.”

  While the two were discussing the construction plan, the four battalion commanders who were notified trotted over behind Sergesha. They stood in a row in front of Sokov, and after raising their hands in salute, they kept standing at attention, waiting for Sokov to give an order. After saluting them, Sokov raised his hand and said, "Comrades, battalion commanders, I called you here because Major Ozor is going to start construction on the Mamayev Hill, but he doesn't have enough manpower. Therefore, I plan to transfer 500 people from each of your battalions to cooperate with him in the construction. Is there a problem?"

   "No problem!" The four battalion commanders replied neatly.

   Sokov continued: "You have to tell the soldiers that the fortifications they built are the fortifications we will use in future defensive operations, and there must be no sloppy quality. Do you understand?"

   "Understood!" The four battalion commanders replied neatly again.

   When the four battalion commanders went back to deploy their personnel, Sokov specifically said to Ozor: "Comrade Major, if you don't have enough manpower, just ask. Our brigade has nearly 5,000 people, and I can add more manpower for you at any time."

  Ozor originally thought that Sokov could transfer two or three hundred people to him at best, which was considered good, but he gave him two thousand people as soon as he opened his mouth. Hearing what the other party said, he quickly and politely replied: "Enough is enough, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel. The area of ​​Mamayev Post is limited. If there are more people, it will be difficult to use."

  Sokov originally wanted Ozor to build tunnels and tunnels after building the surface fortifications. But he swallowed the words again. He thought that he was a layman in construction, and the construction of fortifications should be done by professionals. So he smiled and said to Ozor: "Comrade Major, I will leave the fortifications of Mamayev Post to you. It is up to you to decide how to repair them and how to deploy manpower. I will let myself The subordinates will fully cooperate with you."

  (end of this chapter)