Red Moscow

  Chapter 338 Bombing the Bridge (Part 1)

  The huge amount of supplies found in the underground warehouse made Cuikov smile, because in this way, his urgent need was finally solved. He walked out of the warehouse, called the adjutant Klimov out, and told him: "Klimov, you immediately inform the commanders of the 138th, 157th and 208th divisions and let them send people here to pick up supplies."

   "Comrade General." When Sokov came out, he happened to hear what Chuikov said, and quickly reminded him, "What about Colonel Mirnov's 154th Marine Brigade?"

   "Don't worry about the marine brigade," Cuikov waved at Sokov, and said, "They are on the supply list of the logistics department. Even if they don't come here to collect supplies, the superiors will deliver them to them."

  When the commanders and fighters of the third battalion arrived, Sokov immediately ordered them to take over the defense of the warehouse. Andre was more cautious, worried that when the troops were carrying supplies, Germans would appear from nearby, and he deliberately placed two machine guns on the top of the hillside.

  Sokov waited for Andrei to finish setting up the defense, and asked him in a low voice: "Captain Andrei, have the six cannons been hidden? Don't let the friendly forces see them, or they may be pulled away by them."

   "Don't worry, Comrade Brigadier." Seeing that Sokov was obsessed with the cannon, Andrei reported to him: "I have sent someone to transfer the cannon to another area, and it will definitely not be discovered by friendly troops."

   After almost two hours, the people sent by the three divisions to collect supplies lined up outside the warehouse to receive the ammunition and supplies needed by each unit in turn. The sergeant of the internal affairs force who was in charge of guarding the warehouse walked up to Sokov and asked with a mournful face, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I would like to ask, what should we do if you evacuate all the warehouses?"

Looking at the sergeant standing in front of him, Sokov thought to himself: Now that the periphery of Stalingrad is so chaotic, maybe the sergeant's superior unit was not annihilated by the enemy, but moved to another place So much so that I forgot that there was an important underground warehouse here, and it turned out to be cheap for myself.

"Comrade Sergeant," Sokov has never done anything about crossing rivers and demolishing bridges. Such a large military warehouse was emptied without the approval of the superior. If the superior really pursues responsibility, don't Speaking of sergeants, it's not easy to even come forward. In order to prevent the sergeant from being signed for his own sake, after thinking for a while, he said to the sergeant: "If you have no objection, I plan to incorporate you into the guard company of my 73rd Infantry Brigade."

   "The 73rd Infantry Brigade?" The sergeant couldn't help being stunned when he heard the number. Therefore, when Chuikov was giving orders just now, he did not hear the number mentioned by Sokov. After hesitating for a moment, he tentatively asked: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, is he also a unit of the Southern Group? Why didn't I hear this just now?" What's the number of the unit?"

  Sokov couldn't help but blush when he heard the sergeant's question, and he realized that he was prying into Chuikov's wall again. Although the internal affairs troops of the two squads are small in number, their performance on the battlefield is definitely much better than that of ordinary soldiers. Otherwise, Sokov wouldn't instinctively want to take them under his command as soon as he heard the sergeant asking where he was going next.

"That's right, Comrade Sergeant." Sokov felt the need to explain to the sergeant to let him understand what was going on: "I am the commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade, and the troops are stationed at Mamayev Post. Now I am temporarily serving as the acting chief of staff of the Southern Group, and once there is a suitable candidate to take over my job, I will return to Mamayev Post. Do you understand?"

   "Understood, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." After figuring out what was going on, the sergeant nodded and said, "I would like to go to Mamayev Post."

"Great, this is really great." Seeing that the sergeant agreed to follow him, Sokov was overjoyed, and quickly called Andrey over, and said to him: "Comrade Captain, from now on, the sergeant will be the infantry brigade The platoon leader of the guard company is here, take them all with you when you return to Mamayev Post."

"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov," seeing that the distribution of ammunition and supplies was proceeding in an orderly manner, Cuikov felt that it was time to return to the headquarters, so he specially called Sokov: "Let's go back to the headquarters now. "

  After returning to the headquarters, Chuikov asked the remaining staff officers: "Is there any movement from the enemy on the other side?"

   "Colonel Lyudnikov reported," the staff officer hurriedly reported to Chuikov: "The German army is preparing bridge-building equipment, and it seems that they are preparing to build a pontoon bridge over the Aksee River."

   "Build a bridge?!" Chuikov heard this, and immediately ordered the staff: "Get me the 138th division headquarters, I want to talk to Lyudnikov."

"Comrade General," Sukov reminded him, considering that the Southern Group only had two mortar battalions: "The German army in front of us is the 14th Armored Division. If we let them cross the river smoothly, our infantry will not be able to resist it at all." Their tanks."

Although Chuikov appointed Dmitriev as the artillery commander of the southern group, Sokov met with him only a handful of times. Now that he is not in the temporary headquarters, he asked the staff: "Dmitriev Where is General Husband?"

"I don't know," the staff officer replied, shaking his head, "General Dmitriev came to the headquarters yesterday and said that he would go somewhere to collect artillery and form an artillery unit to resist the attack of German tanks. "

  The 138th Division headquarters got on the phone, and Chuikov asked Lyudnikov bluntly: "Comrade Colonel, I heard that the Germans are planning to build a bridge in your division's defensive zone. How is the situation now?"

   "Comrade Commander," Lyudnikov replied immediately after hearing Chuikov's question: "They have now started the erection of the pontoon bridge."

   Knowing that the German army has started to build a bridge, Cuikov was a little anxious: "Then what measures have you taken?"

"When the enemy started to build a bridge, I ordered the machine guns to shoot at the engineers on the other side." Lyudnikov replied: "But the enemy quickly mobilized several tanks and lined up by the river. As soon as we shoot, we fire. Two or three of our machine-gun emplacements have been destroyed in a row, so I can only order a temporary cessation of fire."

   Hearing that the German army had begun to erect pontoon bridges, and that the 138th Division, under the enemy's artillery fire, could not use any means to stop the enemy's bridge-building operation, Cuikov couldn't help but feel anxious. He said into the microphone: "I see, Comrade Colonel, I order you to do everything possible to prevent the enemy from crossing the river, and I will try my best to provide you with artillery support."

  After putting down the phone, Chuikov ordered Klimov: "Comrade Lieutenant, immediately find a way to find General Dmitriev. We now need his artillery to prevent the Germans from building a bridge over the Aksee River."

  (end of this chapter)