Red Moscow

The materials hoarded on the east bank were continuously transported to the Red October factory through the underwater pontoon bridge erected. After the materials are distributed here, they are quickly transported to various areas where fierce fighting is taking place.

Supplemented with a large number of weapons and ammunition, Chuikov was able to organize thousands of workers and residents, set up new combat units, and organize them into divisions that were fighting fiercely with the Germans. After a long period of fighting, the strength of the divisions has been exhausted, and now they have been supplemented suddenly. The division commanders all smiled and expressed their opinions to Cuikov. Since they have been supplemented with soldiers, they will definitely stick to their positions and will never take a step back.

However, the ensuing battle situation did not improve as the division commanders imagined, but worsened. Although the number of troops has increased, the workers and residents who have just been added have not undergone systematic military training at all, nor have they had much combat experience. In the face of the German attack, many people stood up straight in the trenches and shot, and did not know how to hide at all; when they countercharged, for some reason or other reasons, twenty or thirty people crowded together and rushed forward. , As a result, they were knocked down in front of the position by German machine guns.

In less than two days, all the soldiers added to the army were lost. Under such circumstances, Zoludev, the commander of the 37th Guards Division who was standing at the Dzerzhinsky factory, had to call Chuikov again and ask him for new reinforcements.

When he received the call from Ruoludev, Cuikov couldn't help being taken aback, and asked back: "Comrade General, I just added more than 2,700 people to you the day before yesterday, but in less than two days, you want me to ask for reinforcements. What is it?" what happened?"

"Comrade Commander," Facing Chuikov's questioning, Zoludev said with a bitter face, "You don't know, the enemy's attack is too fierce. And the recruits you have given us have not received special military training, and they have nothing Combat experience, do not know how to save themselves in battle, resulting in heavy casualties on the battlefield."

"Comrade General," Chuikov said with a wry smile after listening to Ruoludev's grievances, "I don't have a reserve force in my hands. I have sent all the soldiers that can be sent to you. What you can do now is to rely on the existing troops." strength, firmly defend the Dzerzhinsky factory from the enemy's occupation of it. Do you understand?"

Although Chuikov didn't say a lot, Ruoludev knew very well in his heart that the Dzerzhinsky Tractor Factory is the largest tank manufacturer in the country. Once it is occupied by the German army, the consequences will be unimaginable. Seeing that Chuikov was unable to send reinforcements to himself, Zholudev hesitated for a long time, and asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, Colonel Lyudnikov's 138th Infantry Division is stationed southwest of our division. Shall one or two regiments be drawn from the division to strengthen the factory's defenses?"

"No, General Zholudev." Chuikov refused the request made by Zoludev without hesitation: "Colonel Lyudnikov's troops have been greatly weakened after the early battles, and now the division There are only more than 4,000 people left. I arranged them on the southeast side of the barricade factory, so that they could block the German advance in time when the barricade factory cannot be defended."

Seeing that Chuikov rejected his request, Ruoludev felt disappointed in his heart, but he asked unwillingly: "Comrade Commander, can you really not send us reinforcements? Even an infantry battalion with combat experience, so we The chances of keeping the factory will be even greater.”

"No, let alone a battalion, I don't even have a company in my hand." After rejecting Zoludev's request again, Chuikov guessed what he was thinking, and quickly added: "Also, in the current situation Excuse me, Colonel Sokov's 41st Guards Division's defensive zone is wide enough, and there is no strength at all to support you. It is better to rely on yourself than to rely on others. I think you should think about it carefully. Is there any way to defend yourself? Defense zone."

After Chuikov finished the conversation with Zoludev, he called Krylov who had just finished the phone call, and asked directly: "Chief of Staff, I want to ask you, where can we draw troops from now to strengthen the Czech Republic?" Defense of the Irzhinsky factory?"

"Didn't we just add more than 2,700 people to them the day before yesterday?" Krylov frowned slightly, and said displeasedly, "It's been less than two days, why did you call again? "

"We have quite a few people for General Zholudev," Chuikov said bitterly, lighting a cigarette, "but among so many people, how many are capable and experienced? I think it is not even one-tenth. Even if we arm more workers and residents and hand them over to Zoludev, it will be difficult to stop the enemy's attack."

"Then what should we do?" Krylov asked.

"Comrade Chief of Staff, among the troops in the city today, only Colonel Sokov's 41st Guards Division has the strongest combat effectiveness. When they face off against the Germans, even if they are at a disadvantage, they can often win. It is incomparable to other troops." After a long silence, Sukov finally said: "But their defensive area is too wide now, if they draw troops from them, it will definitely weaken their strength. Therefore, I think We should report this issue to the Front Army Command and ask them to send us reinforcements as soon as possible."

"Can this work?" Krylov narrowed his eyes and said seriously after hearing Chuikov's words: "If they are willing to send us reinforcements, the three infantry divisions that rushed to the east bank will not stay. There's nothing to do there."

Chuikov tapped the table lightly with his finger, looked up at Krylov and said: "If we asked General Yeremenko for three divisions, he would certainly not give them to us. But if we only want three divisions from him What about one of our divisions? Tell me, Comrade Chief of Staff, will he grant our request?"

"This...it's hard to say!...Maybe you need to try your luck. After he understands the situation in the city, maybe..."

"Even if there is only one percent hope, we have to try our luck." Chuikov threw the cigarette butt in his hand on the ground, crushed it with his toes, and said resolutely: "I will personally call Commander Yelymenko and send Tell him about the situation in the city, and ask him to send us another troop anyway."

Unexpectedly, after receiving Chuikov's order, Yelymenko poured cold water on him: "I'm sorry, Comrade Chuikov, I don't think I can agree to your request."

Cuikov was taken aback when he heard this, and quickly asked, "Why?"

"According to the order of the headquarters, in order to prevent the troops assembled on the east bank from being attacked by the enemy, they have been ordered to stay away from the Volga River and retreat to the Akhtuba River." Yeremenko said helplessly: "Although I am the commander of the front army However, to mobilize these troops, authorization must be obtained from the headquarters in advance."

Yeremenko's words chilled Cuikov's heart. He didn't hear what the other party said later, and he couldn't even remember how he put down the phone afterwards.

Seeing Chuikov's distraught look, Krylov guessed that he must have hit a wall, grabbed his arm and shook it a few times, and asked anxiously, "Comrade Commander, what's wrong with you?"

"There are no more reinforcements, my Comrade Chief of Staff." Chuikov looked up at Krylov and said with a wry smile: "Commander Yeremenko said that according to the order of the headquarters, all the troops assembled on the east bank have been dispatched." Withdraw to the Ahtuba River."

"What, the troops withdrew to the Ahtuba River?" Krylov said frowningly: "Comrade Commander, this means that the superior will not send us reinforcements for a long time."

"That's right, that's what it means." Chuikov said thoughtfully: "It seems that we should find a way to draw strength from somewhere to strengthen the defense of the Dzerzhinsky factory."

In order to defend the barricade factory and the Dzerzhinsky factory, Chuikov deployed seven infantry divisions and several tank brigades in this area. Just listening to the designation, it seems that the number of troops sticking to this area is still quite large. Unfortunately, after a long period of fighting, all divisions have been seriously reduced. Individual divisions have only a few hundred people left, and they can only perform small-scale defense tasks. Don't expect them to reinforce the 37th Guards Division at all.

"What should we do?" After thinking for a while, Krylov said to Chuikov: "Comrade Commander, the only troops we can maneuver at present are the engineers of Colonel Tupichev. Apart from the original engineers, he In addition to the troops, the front army also handed over the 44th and 106th battalions of the motorized pontoon bridge to him to command..."

"We can't use engineers as infantry." Chuikov replied: "The combat effectiveness of engineers is not as good as that of infantry. If they are lost in battle, who will build pontoon bridges in the future? Engineers can be used as infantry, but infantry cannot fight in short-term battles." Time to become a sapper."

His proposal was once again rejected by Chuikov, and Krylov felt a little bit lost, "We can't let engineers serve as infantry, and the workers and residents who are temporarily armed have poor combat effectiveness, so how can we help the 37th Guards Division?" what?"

Chuikov thought for a while, and then proposed a solution: "Chief of Staff, you can go to the field hospital to see if you can mobilize some lightly injured soldiers to be discharged from the hospital and add them to General Joludev's troops?"

"This is a good way." It is commonplace to supplement the troops with the wounded who have been discharged from the hospital. However, it is not an easy task to mobilize the lightly wounded to leave the hospital early. Krylov decided to push this matter to the military commissar Gurov: "I think it is better to hand over the matter to the wounded to do political work." Let the Comrade Military Commissioner be responsible."

Chuikov did not object to Krylov's proposal. He thought that Gurov was now at the Dzerzhinsky factory, and it was very appropriate for him to do this work. Then he nodded and said to Krylov: "I agree with you. I will immediately call Comrade Military Commissar and ask him to rush to the field hospital as soon as possible. troops."

However, when Gurov just received Cuikov's order to go to the field hospital to find the wounded to do ideological work, something unexpected happened. A regiment of the 389th Division of the German Army broke through the line of defense of the 109th Regiment of the 37th Guards Division and advanced towards the banks of the Volga River.

Colonel Omelchenko, the head of the 109th regiment, personally led the staff and logistics personnel of the regiment headquarters, and launched a fierce battle with the enemy who broke through the line of defense, trying to restore the occupied positions. After the battle lasted for two hours, all the commanders and fighters around Omelchenko were killed or injured. Seeing that he could not recover the lost ground with his own strength, Omelchenko could only take the remaining commanders and fighters to retreat to the reserve position by the river.

Zoludev learned that Omelchenko had lost his position, and he couldn't help becoming angry. He shouted into the microphone: "Colonel, I order you to immediately organize forces to counterattack and take back the lost position. If If we can’t take back the position, you and I will wait for the court-martial. Do you understand?”

"I understand what you mean, Comrade Commander." Faced with Zholudev's tough order, Omelchenko replied helplessly: "There are less than fifty people left in my regiment, and half of them are The wounded, even if they are all dead, I am afraid they will not be able to take back the position."

Zholudev covered the microphone with his hands, and turned to ask his chief of staff, Brushko: "Chief of staff, how many troops do we have that can be used?"

When Brushko heard Zoludev's question, he quickly shook his head and replied in an affirmative tone: "No, Comrade Commander, we don't have any reserve force in our hands."

Although he heard Brushko's answer, Zoludev still asked unwillingly: "Even if there are a hundred people, I will hand them over to Colonel Omelchenko to try to restore the positions occupied by the Germans."

"There is no one left, Comrade Division Commander." Brushko reminded Zolludev: "In order to hold on to the factory, a few minutes ago, you sent the only remaining guard squad in the division to the most intense battle. finished product workshop."

"Then what should we do? Just watch the Germans occupy the position of the 109th regiment, and then use it as a starting point for the attack, rushing to the bank of the Volga River?" Zolludev roared: "If the enemy really rushed On the banks of the Volga, that's our dereliction of duty, without the commander sending me to a court-martial, I'd pick up a pistol and shoot myself in the head."

"Comrade Commander, you can't be impulsive." Brushko was worried that Ruoludev would really go to extremes when he saw that the battle was not going well, so he hugged him quickly and said to him: "The matter is not so irreversible now." At this point, we can still find ways to remedy it.”

"Remedy, how to do it?" Zolludev said with a mournful face, "Even the army headquarters doesn't have a reserve team. Where can we find troops to recover the lost positions?"

"Comrade commander, why did you forget Liumian Street?" Brushko reminded Zolludev: "When the 109th Regiment stood firm on Liumian Street, it also suffered heavy casualties under the enemy's attack. Colonel Omelchenko even personally They led the regiment headquarters and fought the enemy with bayonets. It was not until Colonel Sokov's reinforcements arrived that they drove the enemy far away."

After hearing what Brushko said, Joludev gradually stabilized his mood. He said thoughtfully, "Comrade Chief of Staff, what do you mean, you want me to ask Colonel Sokov directly for help?"