Red Moscow

After Sokov finished the call, Papchenko also walked in from the outside.

Sokov hurriedly introduced to Peter and Zinchenko: "Comrades, two factory directors, let me introduce to you. This is Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko, the commander of the 122nd Guards Regiment, and his regiment is in charge of workers. The defense of the new village."

Then he said to Papchenko: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, these two are the factory directors of the Red October factory. Factory director Peter and deputy factory director Zinchenko, you all know each other, and there will be more time for dealing with each other in the future. "

Papchenko shook hands with the two factory managers, and after saying a few more routines, he reported to Sokov: "Comrade commander, all the troops have withdrawn to the vicinity of the factory gate. I don't know when they will launch a counterattack against the enemy."

"Don't worry, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I will tell you when the time is up." Sokov asked again after finishing his sentence, "Have you left anyone in the sewer as a guard?"

Papchenko knew that Sokov had fought against the enemy in the sewer, so he naturally understood the reason for his question, so he nodded and replied, "Don't worry, Comrade Commander, every fork in my road leading here , have deployed a squad of security forces, and once they find an enemy, they will decisively open fire."

"Ah, are there Germans in the sewer?" Peter heard what he was worried about from Papchenko's report, and he quickly looked at Sukov and asked, "Comrade Colonel, if the enemy uses the sewer to sneak into What should we do if we leave the factory area?"

Seeing that Sokov was silent, Papchenko guessed that he must be thinking of a way, so he comforted Peter with a smile and said: "Comrade factory director, don't worry, the division commander is thinking of a way, and we can definitely avoid similar things from happening. "

Hearing what Papchenko said, Peter, who had confidence in Sokov, squeezed out a smile on his face: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you are right, with Colonel Sokov's ability, he will definitely be able to come up with a suitable solution. The way to deal with those enemies who try to sneak into the factory area through the sewer."

Peter, Papchenko and others were full of confidence in Sokov, but Sokov was dumb in his heart, unable to express his suffering. He proposed to Chuikov that using the sewers to mobilize troops and transport materials can organically combine all defensive positions. But the German soldiers who appeared in the sewer today made him break out in a cold sweat. You must know that there is no lighting in the sewers and it is pitch black, so it is difficult to distinguish between the enemy and the enemy. Once the German soldiers use the sewers to sneak into the factory area, then they themselves, the instigators, will be dead.

"What should I do, what should I do?" Sokov kept asking himself in his heart, racking his brains to find a suitable way to deal with this headache.

"Colonel Sokov, what can you do?" Seeing that Sokov remained silent, Balshak was a little impatient: "Although you are the ones who got out of the sewer today, who knows what will happen tomorrow?" Wouldn't Germans come out of the sewers? If so, we'd be at risk."

For Balshak's worries, Sokov could only respond with a wry smile. He didn't know that when the troops were desperately resisting the enemy's attack, suddenly a wave of enemies came out of the sewer behind him, and the defense line might collapse in an instant. However, it is obviously unrealistic to order people to close all the sewers. In this way, the enemy will certainly not be able to attack through the sewers, and our own troops will also be unable to use the sewers to mobilize troops and transport supplies.

"Colonel Sokov." Seeing that Sokov didn't answer himself, Balshak was a little anxious, and hurriedly called a few more times: "Colonel Sokov! Colonel, did you hear my voice?"

"Comrade Balshak, stop barking." Sokov waved his hand at Balshak and said bitterly, "I heard your question."

"Comrade Balshak, don't rush." ​​Zinchenko, who has a good relationship with Sokov, worried that Sokov would not step down, and hurried out to smooth things over: "Colonel Sokov will definitely think of a good way."

Peter, who was still hopeful about Sokov, had a suspicious expression on his face after listening to what Balshak and Zinchenko said: "Comrade Colonel, you haven't spoken for a long time, can you think of any countermeasures? If that doesn't work, we'll reseal all these sewers."

Sokov, who was frowning, heard a flash of inspiration in his mind when he heard what Peter said, and immediately thought of a good solution. He slammed the table and said excitedly: "Comrade director, I thought of it."

"Oh, I thought of it?!" Sukov's words surprised Peter, and he hurriedly asked, "Then tell me, what should we do?"

"Is there a map of the sewer?" Sokov didn't answer immediately, but asked Zinchenko.

"No." Zinchenko replied simply, "These drawings are all in the archives of the factory. How could they be placed in the duty room at the gate of the factory?"

Knowing that there is no map of the sewers here, Sokov hesitated for a moment, and then asked Peter: "Comrade factory director, can the comrades in the archives send over the drawings of the sewers?"

"Well," Peter understood that Sokov needed the sewer map, so he must have some idea, so he nodded and said, "I will call the archives immediately and order them to send someone to send over the sewer blueprint. "

The staff of the archives office, after receiving a call from Peter, knew that the sewer blueprint was very important. As soon as they found the blueprint, they sent someone on a bicycle to the duty room at the factory gate. The whole process did not take more than eight minutes.

Peter took the map and glanced at it, and saw that it was indeed the sewer drawing of the factory area and the workers' new village, so he unfolded it and spread it on the table, and said to Sokov: "Comrade Colonel, the sewer drawing is here, tell me what you plan to do?" of."

Sokov didn't speak, but looked down at the drawings for a while, then raised his head and asked Peter: "Comrade factory manager, why is there only the Red October Factory and Workers' New Village in this sewer drawing?"

"Comrade Colonel, let me explain this matter to you." Seeing Sokov's puzzled expression, Zinchenko smiled and explained to him: "The new city north of Mamayev Gang, Each factory is for an independent area. In its own area, each factory is equipped with hospitals, schools and various entertainment facilities..."

After patiently listening to Zinchenko's story, Sokov finally understood that the sewers of the Red October Factory, the Barricade Factory and the Dzerzhinsky Factory existed independently and were not connected together. After learning about the situation of the sewer here, Sokov became more confident in the plan he came up with.

He coughed lightly, cleared his throat, and then began to say: "Since the sewers of each factory are not connected, it will be much easier to handle." He pointed to the blueprint of the sewer and said, "From Worker's New Village to There are five sewers in the factory area. I plan to block three of them with landmines, and pile up sandbags near the factory area. In this way, if the enemy wants to approach the factory area, they will be blown up by our minefield first; The enemy in the minefield will suffer huge casualties before the sandbag fortification..."

Regarding the plan proposed by Sokov, everyone present did not speak, but silently stared at the blueprint and thought. Seeing that everyone was silent, Sokov couldn't help but ask, "What do you think of my plan?"

"Comrade Colonel," Zinchenko is a person who has been on the battlefield. He asked Peter to think about the problem comprehensively. He pointed to the blueprint and asked, "The sewer is pitch black. How can you guarantee that our soldiers will not leave when they transfer?" Into the mine-laid tunnel?"

As soon as Zinchenko's words fell, it immediately aroused the sympathy of Balshak: "The deputy factory manager is right, the sewer is dark and ignorant, and two people can't see each other clearly when facing each other. How can our soldiers distinguish in the dark? Which road is mine, and which road is passable?"

"This is easy," Sokov said confidently. "The passage for laying mines is near the workers' new village. We have signed ropes so that our soldiers can identify which road has mines when they approach the fork. , which way is safe."

As soon as Sokov finished speaking, he immediately realized that he hadn't made it clear, so he rushed ahead of everyone to speak and added: "In order to prevent the Germans from seeing through our traps in a short time. Therefore, no matter whether there are roads with landmines or not, we will Ropes must be pulled at intersections. On roads with mines, two ropes should be pulled horizontally; on roads without mines, only one rope should be pulled.”

"That's a good idea." After listening to Sokov's explanation, Peter nodded slightly, and added: "We're going to send a patrol team to patrol every once in a while to check whether the rope has fallen off."

"Comrade Factory Manager." Seeing that Peter did not refute his plan, Sokov breathed a sigh of relief, and then asked: "Since it is too early for a counterattack, can you see if you can send someone to mine the sewer, and Build sandbags?"

"Mine-laying and fortification work may require a lot of manpower." Peter said with some embarrassment: "In this way, won't our defensive strength on the surface be greatly weakened?"

"Don't worry, Comrade Factory Manager, it won't take much time to lay mines in the sewer." Seeing Peter's embarrassment, Sokov quickly explained to him: "Just put the mines in the silt and you don't need to dig a special hole. As for the construction of sandbags, it is even simpler, you only need to find dozens of sacks, use local materials to fill the bags with mud.”

He was deeply afraid that Peter would disagree, so he specifically emphasized: "Anyway, it's still too early to counterattack, and our soldiers can also help with laying mines and repairing fortifications."

"Okay, Colonel Sokov." Now that Sokov had already said this, Peter knew that there was no need for him to object, so he nodded and began to assign tasks to Balshak: "Bolshak Major Ke, you immediately order someone to pull two carts of landmines, and then bury them at the location designated by Colonel Sokov."

After Balshak left, Peter tentatively asked Sokov: "Comrade Colonel, do you think it is necessary to report this matter to the Army Group Command?"

"Not for the time being." Sokov felt that Chuikov and the others were so busy at the moment that there was absolutely no need to bother them with such things, so he waved his hand and said, "Commander and the others are discussing how to defend the Barricade Factory and the Dzerzhinsky Factory." As for the headache, let's not bother them with these trivial things."

Peter felt that what Sokov said was very reasonable, so he stopped insisting on his point of view, but changed to a topic he cared about and asked, "Comrade Colonel, do you think we can take back the Workers' New Village at night?"

"It will definitely be taken back, Comrade Factory Manager." Seeing Peter's look of worrying about gains and losses, Sokov explained to him: "In order to prevent our army from relying on the terrain of the workers' new village to resist tenaciously, the enemy used artillery and assault guns. , Destroyed all the buildings in the family area one by one. In this way, after they entered the workers' new village, they could only pitch tents in an open area. Our troops took advantage of the darkness and used the sewer to re-enter the workers' new village. These enemies can be easily eliminated."

"Even if the enemies are all in the tents, it's impossible for them to be unprepared." Papchenko frowned and said, "I think they must have set up a lot of secret sentries in the ruins. Maybe our soldiers just came from the sewer Get out of the hole and be discovered by the enemy's dark whistle."

"It would be great if Captain Rogers was here. He can kill all the enemy's secret whistle without anyone noticing." This strange idea suddenly appeared in Sokov's mind, which shocked him. He shook his head vigorously, drove this very tempting thought out of his mind, and said in his heart: "It is better to rely on yourself than to rely on others. I have thousands of people under my command. Changing from a sneak attack to a strong attack, with the combat power of the guards, it is enough to defeat the enemy and retake the workers' new village."

"Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko, don't worry about this." Sokov pointed to the sewer drawing on the table and said to Papchenko: "In the new workers' village, there are as many as fifty exits. It is impossible for the enemy to set up secret sentries at every exit. Even if the enemy discovers some places, as long as the soldiers here can contain the enemy for a few minutes, the soldiers who leave the sewer through other exits can rush over to support their comrades."

Seeing that his commander was so confident, Papchenko stopped discussing anything, but repeated a question he had asked before: "Comrade commander, when shall we start to act?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko, don't worry." Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch, and said, "You first arrange manpower to assist the comrades in the annihilation battalion to lay mines and build fortifications in the sewer, and after all this is done , you can still seize the time to rest for a few hours. At two o'clock in the morning, you will go through the sewer and go quietly to the workers' new village, catching the sleeping Germans by surprise."