Red Moscow

  Chapter 521 Gunshots in the middle of the night

   Throughout the day, the German army did not launch an attack on the assembly workshop. Regarding the performance of the German army, Sokov was full of apprehension. He felt that the enemy must be planning some kind of conspiracy.

   Immediately after dark, Sokov sent two groups of lurking sentries towards the wall, each group of five men, each carrying an MG34 machine gun, two rifles and a submachine gun. If they find that an enemy has entered the factory area at night, in addition to firing warning shots, they also have enough firepower to stop the enemy for a period of time.

  Because they were worried about the night attack of the German army, several leaders, including Sokov, did not sleep at night, but sat in the command room in the basement and chatted.

Sokov thought of the collapse of the roof and walls, which almost destroyed the production line in the factory, making it impossible to continue the assembly work. While he was free, he asked Cousteau curiously: "Comrade workshop director, your workshop is currently unable to produce. So, where are the tanks needed for other fronts produced?"

Hearing Sokov's question, Cousteau showed a surprised expression on his face: "Why, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, don't you know that the Dzerzhinsky factory is the largest tank production factory in Stalingrad? You know, since the fall of an industrial city like Kharkov, more than half of the tank production in the country has been completed by their factory. And the output of our factory," said Cousteau, his face showed With a hint of embarrassment, "I can't even keep up with one-fifth of others."

Sokov had asked Cousteau about the output of the assembly workshop before, and he knew that ten T-34 tanks could be produced a day. Now that he heard that the output of the Dzerzhinsky factory was more than five times theirs, he couldn't help asking in surprise. : "What, their output is so high?"

  Bolshak sighed and said: "I guess their production will come to a halt soon."

   "Stop, why?" Sokov asked puzzled, "Is it because of the enemy's attack on the factory?"

   "The enemy's attack is one aspect." Balshak pointed upwards with his hand, and continued: "When our place is attacked by the enemy, as long as there is power supply, the work in the workshop will not stop."

  Borshak's words made Sokov more and more confused: "Since the production will not stop when the factory is attacked by the enemy, but why will they stop production in the near future?"

"Raw materials, the stock of raw materials in the Dzerzhinsky factory is almost used up." Bolshak was afraid that Sukov would not understand, and explained to him specifically: "The raw materials needed for the production of tanks used to be obtained through The city is now under siege by the German army, and the railway has been cut off by the Germans. As for the ship, since it is necessary to continuously transport soldiers and various military supplies to the city, the amount of raw materials that can be transported across the river Very few and coming very slowly. As a result, the factory will have to shut down due to the shortage of raw materials in the near future.”

  Sokov waited for Balshak to finish speaking, then turned his head and asked Cousteau: "Comrade workshop director, I would like to ask, is there a smelting workshop in the factory? That is, the place where scrap copper and rotten iron are put back into the furnace?"

   "Yes." Cousteau nodded after hearing this: "Not only Dzerzhinsky's long residence has a smelting workshop, but also our factory. I don't know why you ask this?"

   "There are so many destroyed tanks on the battlefield, both from the enemy and from our army. Why don't you collect these scrap copper and rotten iron and remelt them to produce new tanks?"

  Sokov's words caught Cousteau's eyes, and he hurriedly asked: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, can you tell me where are the tanks that have been reimbursed?"

Sokov smiled wryly, pointed upwards with his hand, and said, "Comrade workshop director, why did you forget that there are several destroyed German tanks inside the wall, and you can take them back to the furnace. Then use it to manufacture the tanks our army needs."

"The German tanks have too many impurities, and the quality of the steel plates produced is not as good as that of our country." After Cousteau complained, he continued: "Anyway, we are short of raw materials now, so we can only reluctantly make the German tanks Bring it back to the furnace."

"There are eight tanks in the factory area," Sokov said to Cousteau with a pointed finger, "In addition, there are hundreds of tanks and The wreckage of the armored vehicle..."

"How many did you say, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel?" Cousteau couldn't help being surprised when he heard the number Sokov said, "In front of Mamayev Post, there are so many destroyed by you." Tanks and armored vehicles?"

"That's right," Sokov nodded, and said in an affirmative tone: "We have indeed eliminated a lot of German tanks during the two-month battle. These tanks were piled up in front of our positions, not only It blocks the vision of our soldiers, and the Germans can use these tanks as a cover to move closer to our positions when they attack. If you can drag these wrecks away from our positions, I will be very grateful."

   "This is really good news. I will report it to the factory manager immediately." Cousteau said excitedly: "In this way, the Dzerzhinsky factory will not be forced to shut down due to insufficient raw materials."

   Sokov understood Cousteau's reaction very well. At present, the Red October Tractor Factory is being attacked by the German army, and the factory building of the assembly workshop is the first to bear the brunt. If the Dzerzhinsky factory can maintain normal production, even if it is temporarily suspended for a period of time, it will not affect Stalingrad's task of providing tanks to other fronts.

   While Cousteau was on the phone, Balshak asked Sokov about a topic he was interested in: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, do you really think that the German army will come to attack tonight?"

"Whether the enemy is coming for a sneak attack, I can't say for sure." Sokov replied with a smile: "But I'm not afraid of 10,000, just in case. The reason why I arranged two groups of lurking posts in the factory area is to prevent the Germans from attacking. Like last night, people quietly approached our army's position while the sentries on our position were unable to observe."

"You said yesterday that you are also planning to launch a sneak attack on the German army." Balshak saw that Sokov seemed not at all active in sending troops to attack the enemy, so he intentionally reminded him, "It's getting late now, why not?" You haven't dispatched a surprise attack force yet?"

"Comrade Major, don't worry." Sokov said calmly: "Before we launch a sneak attack on the enemy, we must always find out where their headquarters is and how the surrounding defense forces are. Wait. Knowing all this, it will not be too late for us to send troops to carry out a sneak attack.”

After finishing the call, Cousteau returned to Sokov and said with a smile on his face: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I have already reported the situation to Director Peter. , There are hundreds of tanks and armored vehicle wreckage, but I am so happy that I am going to send tracked armored maintenance vehicles overnight to pull those wreckage back."

"This is a very correct decision." Sokov thought that the front of Mamayev Kurgan could be cleaned up in a short period of time. In the next battle, the attacking German army would be directly exposed to the defenders. Under the firepower of the enemy, if they want to capture Mamayev Gang, they will inevitably pay a heavier price. "After the armored maintenance vehicle is dispatched, I will call the brigade headquarters and ask them to send people to help drag the wreckage away."

  The two were talking, when suddenly there was a faint gunshot outside. The sudden gunshots made Sokov alert. He listened carefully to the movement outside. Although it was covered by thick concrete, he could still hear the gunshots coming from the north side of the factory building.

  The Germans are attacking again! This was Sokov's first thought. He picked up the phone, dialed Briski's battalion command post, and asked bluntly, "Comrade Captain, what happened outside? Where is the shooting?"

  (end of this chapter)