"In my opinion," Ivanov said, staring at the map: "The factory area north of the city was too severe in combat, and it was obviously inappropriate for the Germans to establish the headquarters there. In this way, they could only consider establishing the headquarters in a residential area in the south of the city or somewhere in the central area."
Seeing that Ivanov had basically guessed the location of Paulus Command, Sokov smiled on his face. He turned to look at Cydolin: "What do you think, Comrade Chief of Staff?"
Sidolin put his right hand on his left armpit, his left elbow on his right arm, and his left cheek, looking at the map on the table carefully, and after a long time he spoke, "I agree with the deputy division commander. Under the powerful attack of our army, Paulus's headquarters will definitely be transferred, and the location where he can set up the headquarters may be the largest in the central area, because most of these places are tall stone buildings, which are very suitable for command."
After both of them expressed their opinions, Sokov said slowly: "You are right. Once our army strengthens the offensive, Paulus's headquarters will definitely be transferred. And his new command is located in the stone building group in the south of the city or the central area. Think about it, if we arrange a powerful force in the place where they may set up a new command, what effect will be."
Sokov's words made the two of them lit up. Cidolin asked in surprise: "Comrade Commander, the reason why you insist on keeping the Third Battalion in the city is for the purpose of attacking the German Command in the future?"
"That's right."
"If we want to assault the German Command, Captain Andre's little force is far from enough." Ivanov reminded Sokov: "Although the third battalion has more than a thousand people in name, it may be difficult to break through the German Command's guard forces with their strength."
"The deputy division commander is right." Cidolin continued: "In my opinion, troops should be drawn from other places to strengthen Captain Andre..."
"No." Sokov immediately shook his head and objected to Sidolin's proposal. "Under the current circumstances, we cannot replenish Captain Andre for the time being."
Sidolin and Ivanov were confused by Sokov's words. Sidolin asked in confusion: "Comrade Commander, if Captain Andrei does not replenish his troops, how can they break through the defense of the German guards?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, if we should replenish Captain Andre now, it would not be equivalent to telling the Germans: We have a strong force in the place where you are preparing to set up a new headquarters, and we can launch an assault on you at any time." Sokov smiled and said, "If the enemy discovers this situation, will he still be honest in setting up the headquarters near the Third Battalion?"
"The division commander makes sense," Ivanov nodded vigorously after hearing Sokov's words, saying in a positive tone: "We want to create an illusion for the enemy that we do not have any troops in this area and cannot threaten their safety. In this way, the enemy can safely and boldly establish the headquarters in a place where we can attack at any time."
Sidolin felt that what Ivanov said made sense, so he did not mention the matter of replenishing the troops, but asked tentatively: "Do you need to give Captain Andre the order to let him monitor the enemy closely?"
"Let them stay the same, and do what they did before, and do it now, and never make any troubles." Sokov said: "Stop alerting the enemy and have a bad impact on our next plan."
"Comrade Commander, I have another question." Cidolin hesitated for a moment and asked, "I have mentioned just now that it will be difficult to break through the German defense with Captain Andre's troops. Where will we draw troops from to strengthen them?"
"I just mentioned to them that when several leaders were here, I said that with the character of General Rokosovsky, a new large-scale offensive would definitely be launched." Sokov looked at the three and asked, "Do you still remember?"
"Remember," the three of them nodded at the same time. Anisimov, who had not spoken, asked back: "Comrade Commander, are you planning to draw troops from other regiments to strengthen the third battalion in the city?"
Anisimov's questions were also considered by the other two deputy, and they both turned their attention to Sokov and waited for him to give a reassured answer.
"I guess it will take mid-January before Paulus will transfer his headquarters to the position we call it." Sokov picked up the pencil on the table, drew a few lines on the map, and said, "I think by that time, the entire army's defense line has been pushed westward significantly. At that time, you don't have to worry about your flank being cut off by the enemy, and you can transfer the Belkin regiment to the city."
Speaking of this, Sokov threw the pencil in his hand on the table and said coldly: "I don't believe that the reduction regiment with the strongest combat effectiveness of the entire division will not be able to break through the defense line of the German Command."
When I heard Sokov called the Belkin regiment the strongest combat force in the entire division, Ivanov's mouth twitched violently twice. He wanted to mention his three old subordinates, but after thinking about it in his mind, he found that they did not seem to have any outstanding achievements, so he could only shut his mouth tactfully.
As the political commissar of the Guard Division, Anisimov did not have as much concern as Ivanov. He pursed his lips and said, "Comrade Commander, I have an objection to you."
"Do you have any opinions?" Sokov asked blankly: "Comrade Political Commissar, do you have any opinions?"
"We all know that the shrinking regiment is the old foundation of your original 73rd Infantry Brigade. The soldiers have achieved good results in many battles by relying on the new tactics they have mastered." Anisimov said unhappily: "But now the other three guard regiments are also your subordinates, you just use them as reserves. You have never considered teaching them new tactics to perform more glorious and arduous combat tasks. If you continue like this, they will always be vassals of the shrinking regiment."
Anisimov's words made Sokov fall into deep thought. He felt that the other party was right. Out of trust, he had always handed over all important tasks to the Berkin regiment to complete. Even if the leader of other regiments took the initiative to ask for battle, he would let them stick to their positions. If this continues, if they are not done well, these three guard regiments will only become roles.
Sokov knew very well that after the Battle of Stalingrad, the third Kharkov Battle was launched, and the Soviet army was beaten to the ground by Manstein while occupying the number of people and equipment advantages. If he could not improve the combat effectiveness of the entire Guard Division in a short period of time, even if the commanders and fighters of the Belkin regiment were capable, he would probably suffer a great loss in the next battle.
"You are right, Comrade Political Commissar." Sokov realized his mistake and stood up and took the initiative to apologize to Anisimov: "Maybe because the shrinking regiment is my old unit, I took too much care of them. In the future, attacking the German Command will not only be the task of the shrinking regiment, but also an important combat task for the entire division. Therefore, I decided to draw troops from each regiment to form an attacking force to capture the German Command."
"Great, comrade of the division commander, this is really great." Ivanov felt warm when he heard Sokov say this. He grabbed the other party's hand and said excitedly: "On behalf of the commanders and fighters of the other three guard regiments, I thank you."
Chapter completed!