Red Moscow

After reading the telegram forwarded by Yeremenko, Chuikov immediately jumped up from his seat and said repeatedly: "Impossible, this is an impossible task. In order to ease the transportation pressure of the Volga fleet, we have transferred our artillery to the The east bank is to free up the space for transporting shells to transport more important supplies. If we really have the ability to transport three full-staffed divisions into the city within three days, our situation will not be as difficult as it is now gone."

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 superior has presented us with a problem, and asked us to use three Transporting three fully staffed infantry divisions into the city within a day is simply an impossible task."

Gurov took the telegram and read it carefully, his brows furrowed more and more. After finishing the telegram, he put it on the table and said: "Comrade Commander, it was mentioned later in the telegram that Colonel Sokov should be given the task of crossing the Volga River for all troops within three days. what's going on?"

"I think it might be that the superior saw that we took Colonel Sokov as the only candidate and was going to test him, so he specifically instructed him to complete this task." Cuikov said with great interest: "Actually, I I also want to see if Sokov has the ability to complete the task assigned to him by his superiors."

"Director of the Communication Corps." Cuikov called to the side, and after hearing Colonel Yulin's reply, he continued to ask, "Is the telephone line between us and the Front Army Headquarters in a clear state?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander, the communication line has always been open." After Colonel Yulin finished his answer, he asked, "Do I need to connect you to the Front Army Command?"

"That's right, Comrade Colonel." Chuikov nodded and said, "I want to talk to Commander Yeremenko to find out what is going on with this telegram."

The call was connected quickly, and when he heard Yelymenko's voice coming from the receiver, Chuikov hurriedly said respectfully, "Hello, Comrade Commander, I'm Chuikov!"

"It's Chuikov." Yeremenko recognized the call from Chuikov, smiled at Khrushchev who was sitting across the table, and then asked, "What can I do for you?"

"Comrade Commander, I'm calling you about the telegram I just received." Chuikov said with some embarrassment: "I think the superior asked us to get through the three newly arrived full-staffed divisions within three days." Volga, I think this is an impossible task at all. If we recklessly force the crossing, our troops will suffer heavy losses from the enemy's shelling and bombing."

"Comrade Chuikov, I understand what you want to express." After carefully studying the content of the telegram, Yeremenko and Khrushchev discovered the mystery, but he deliberately did not tell Chuikov the truth, and pretended to be serious. Zhao Zi said, "But orders from superiors are orders, and we as subordinates can only obey orders, not discuss orders. Do you understand what I mean?"

"I understand, I understand." After Chuikov said twice that I understood, he said awkwardly: "The superior handed over this difficult problem to Colonel Sokov. Can he complete such a task?"

Naturally, Yeremenko would not tell Cuikov that such an order from his superiors was purely to test Sokov, to see how capable he was, and 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 here that the three full-staffed divisions will arrive at us in two days." Here, that is to say, there are only two days left for you to find a solution, you must hurry up, otherwise it will be too late when the troops reach the east bank."

From Yeremenko, Chuikov had no useful information, except that three full divisions would arrive in two days. He put down the microphone in great disappointment, shook his head at Gurov who was sitting next to him, and said, "Commander Yeremenko said that this is an order from his superiors, 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 figure out a way, why would he name the task in the telegram? How about giving it to him?"

One word awakened the dreamer, and Gurov’s words made Chuikov, who was on the verge of a dead end, feel enlightened: “That’s right, Comrade Military Commissioner, if you don’t tell me, I haven’t thought of this. I’ll call him right now. Tell him to come to the headquarters at once."

Sokov stayed in his headquarters, feeling more bored than ever, because the enemy not only stopped the attack on Mamayev Kurgan, but even the attack on the new workers' village was weak, and the charging infantry stopped at 500. Meters away, guns were fired at the ruins of the workers' new village, and the soldiers were unwilling to continue to charge forward.

Hearing this news, Ivanov asked Sokov in a daze: "Comrade commander, what's going on? According to Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko's report, the enemy attacking the workers' new village does not seem to be 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, "We wiped out the two battalions that attacked Workers' New Village yesterday, and seized a large amount of weapons and ammunition. The enemy is worried that if they attack again, they will repeat the same mistakes, so as long as the Germans don’t keep a close eye on them, their attack is just a formality.”

"Then do we need to launch an assault on the enemy again?" Ivanov asked tentatively after listening to Sokov's explanation: "I see that the enemy has already lost their fighting spirit after yesterday's disastrous defeat. If they take the initiative to attack again, they will definitely be able to fight." Great results were achieved.”

"No, we can't take the initiative to launch an attack." Unexpectedly, his proposal was rejected by Sokov. Sokov said with a solemn expression: "Comrade deputy division commander, if the enemy in front of us is always the army of the slave country, then the enemy will basically have no possibility of capturing Mamayev Post. Contact will not be interrupted.

But if we take the initiative to attack and defeat the frontal Romanian army, the German army may see that their dog legs are not our opponents, and they may personally launch a powerful fortification against our defense area. become grim. In order to avoid this situation, we must ensure that the Romanian army continues to stay in front of our army. "

Sokov just finished explaining his intentions to Ivanov when the phone rang. After Sidolin answered the phone, he said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, it was the commander who called. He ordered you to rush to the headquarters immediately, saying that there is an extremely important task to be completed by you."