Chapter 1564

  Sokov originally thought that it would be very difficult to collect bicycles. After all, except for a few people with cars, most of the residents of Russia travel by bus or horse-drawn carriage, and there are few places where bicycles can be used.

  But as soon as the solicitation work started, the residents of the city began to actively donate their bicycles, saying that they would contribute to the elimination of the Germans. Originally, Lunev ordered someone to register the names of these donors in preparation for returning their bicycles in the future. But many people just put the car there, turned around and left, leaving no chance for the soldiers to register at all.

   In this way, in less than half a day, Lunev collected more than 1,300 bicycles. He happily returned to the headquarters and reported the good news to Sokov.

  However, the first time he saw Sokov, he did not immediately report the results of the morning, but deliberately asked: "Comrade commander, guess how many bicycles we have collected so far?"

   Sokov looked at Lunev, trying to read the answer from his face. But Lunev's face did not show any sadness or joy, and Sokov asked hesitantly, "Have you collected one hundred vehicles?"

   Lunev didn't speak, just shook his head slightly.

   Seeing Lunev shaking his head, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little panicked. He could only lower his expectations: "So is it eighty cars?"

   But Lunev still shook his head.

  Sokov was almost desperate. He collected in the city for a whole morning, but he didn't even have 80 bicycles. He said in despair: "Comrade Military Commissioner, you won't tell me that you don't have fifty bicycles in your collection, will you?"

   Seeing Sokov's expression, Lunev couldn't help laughing: "Comrade Commander, you are in a hurry. If you really haven't collected fifty bicycles, do I have the nerve to come back and report to you?"

   Lunev's words made Sokov hopeful, and he hurriedly asked: "Comrade Military Commissioner, please tell me the truth, how many bicycles have been recruited?"

"1,300 vehicles." After Lunev said the data, seeing Sokov's eyeballs almost fell to the ground, he couldn't help saying triumphantly: "Comrade Commander, does this data scare you?" Jump?"

   "That's right, I was really taken aback." Sokov didn't hide his true thoughts at all. He asked curiously, "Member of the Military Commission, where did so many bicycles come from?"

"General Sokov, I think I should know the answer." Without waiting for Lunev to speak, Managarov interjected, "You also know that Kremenchug is located on the bank of the Dnieper River. The situation is poor, and it is definitely inconvenient for urban residents to rely solely on buses and horse-drawn carriages to travel. Therefore, I don’t know when, more and more families in the city have bought bicycles, and this means of transportation has become The first choice for family travel.”

  Sokov thought that in Moscow, except for the postman, he had hardly seen anyone riding a bicycle, so he asked in wonder, "But even in Moscow, the capital, there are not many people riding bicycles on the streets, right?"

"General Sokov, there is a reason why there are few people riding bicycles in Moscow." Managarov explained to Sokov: "The production of bicycles is planned in advance. Anyone who buys bicycles in department stores , you need to provide bicycle tickets to the salesperson..."

Managarov’s words reminded Sokov of the time when almost everything was supplied by ticket: food stamps were needed to buy rice, food stamps were needed to buy food, oil stamps were needed to buy oil, sugar stamps were needed to buy sugar, and sugar stamps were needed to buy cloth. You need a cloth ticket, you need a TV ticket to buy a TV, and you need a bicycle ticket to buy a bicycle. This is still the case decades later, not to mention the shortage of supplies in the 1940s.

Sokov was silent for a while, then remembered something, and asked Managarov tentatively: "Comrade General, if you need a ticket to buy a bicycle, why do the citizens of Klemenchug have so many vehicles?" Woolen cloth?"

Managarov turned his head and looked at his military commissar Gorokhov, and said with a smile: "General Sukov, my military commissar went to the bicycle factory this morning to find out. The bicycle factory here produces Half of the output is supplied to Moscow, and the remaining half is sold locally or in nearby cities, so I am not surprised that more than 1,300 bicycles were collected within half a day."

  Managarov's words sparked hope in Sokov's heart. If the bicycle factory can produce 800 to 1,000 bicycles, then 2,000 people in your own army can ride bicycles to participate in battle. Thinking of this, he asked Gorokhov cautiously: "General Gorokhov, since you have been to the bicycle factory today, I would like to ask, can the factory resume operations in the near future?"

"I talked with the factory manager, and most of the skilled workers in the factory are still there. As long as the raw materials are in place, they can start work at any time." Gorokhov said with some complacency: "The factory manager assured me that the daily output can be reduced. Less than a hundred."

  The daily output at any time is only about 100, but Sukov knows that under the current situation, this is probably the limit of the bicycle factory. Even if you give the other party some mandatory orders, it won't help much in providing output. He nodded and said: "In today's situation, it is already very remarkable to be able to produce one hundred bicycles a day. We cannot force the other party to increase production blindly, so as not to bring bad influence."

"Then someone should be sent to supervise." Gorokhov reminded Sokov, "In any case, they have been producing in the enemy-occupied area for two years, and we have no way of knowing what they think. When they produce, there may be saboteurs hidden in it, destroying the factory."

   "You can rest assured about this." Sokov comforted Gorokhov and said: "The factory is also our key defense area. We have arranged a lot of people to serve as guards, and we will definitely not let the enemy destroy it."

   "Comrade Commander," Lunev heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that Sokov had handed over the task of supervising production to Gorokhov. Not only did this kind of thing offend people, but it was also a lot of trivial matters. Since Gorokhov is willing to accept this chaotic mess, he is simply wishing for it: "Then what is my next task?"

   "Supervise the soldiers learning to ride a bicycle."

  If it was a day ago, Sokov proposed to let the soldiers learn to ride a bicycle, maybe someone would have questioned it. But after he issued this order at this time, Lunev immediately replied straightforwardly: "I will immediately arrange the troops directly under the headquarters to start strengthening patrols to prevent the enemy from destroying."

  Sokov urged: "Comrade Military Commissar, after the bicycles come back, first let the soldiers who can ride bicycles familiarize themselves with the condition of the bicycles. After they are familiar with it, teach those soldiers who can't ride bicycles to ride bicycles."

   Lunev very much agrees with Sokov’s order. Although the bicycles solicited are all similar in shape, the commanders and fighters have been fighting for many years, and there are very few opportunities to ride bicycles. If they are not allowed to familiarize themselves with the condition of the vehicle, they are ordered to ride bicycles to the battlefield rashly, and there may be serious accidents.

   "Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Lunev said: "After the bicycles are shipped back, I will arrange soldiers directly under the army to practice riding bicycles as soon as possible."

   While arranging for commanders and fighters to learn how to ride a bicycle, the phone from the 53rd Army rang. After Chief of Staff Derevyanko picked up the microphone and listened for a while, his affection suddenly became serious. He said to the microphone: "Wait a minute." Then he covered the microphone and reported to Managarov: "Commander Comrade, the commander of the 28th Guards Division has called to say that an enemy detachment has crossed the upper reaches of the Dnieper and is attacking the positions of the 88th Guards Rifle Regiment."

   "What kind of troops does the enemy have?" Managarov heard Derevyanko say this, and hurriedly asked: "Are there any artillery and tanks? What countermeasures did the division commander take?"

  Derevyanko waited for Managarov to ask a series of questions before continuing: "There are about two battalions of German infantry attacking, with twenty tanks covering their attack."

"Tell the division commander that in addition to leaving the 92nd Guards Regiment to stick to the existing position," Managarov told Derevyanko: "immediately transfer the 89th Guards Regiment and the 61st Guards Artillery Regiment to rush to support, Be sure to block the enemy's attack."

  Hearing this, Sokov winked at Sameko, who was standing in a daze, and motioned him to ask about the specific situation. Sameko, who understood, stepped forward two steps quickly, and asked Derevyanko politely: "General Derevyanko, where is the enemy now, I think we should be able to help you."

Derevyanko originally wanted to reject Sameko's kindness, but then he thought about it. The only heavy artillery regiment in our army was transferred to them. Now the 28th Guards Division is under attack by the Germans. We ask them for artillery support. It should be a matter of course.

  Thinking of this, Derevyanko said politely to Sameko: "General Sameko, please come here, and I will tell you the exact location of the enemy."

After reading the map, Sameko raised his head and looked at Derevyanko and said, "General Derevyanko, a heavy artillery regiment we deployed, the immediate engagement location is no more than eight kilometers away, and I can order them to provide artillery support for the defenders." .”

   Just when Derevyanko was about to nod, Managarov said unexpectedly: "General Sameko, thank you for your kindness. I don't think it is necessary to provide artillery support under the current circumstances."

   "There is no need to provide artillery support?" Sameko was stunned: "Why?"

"The enemy has only dispatched two battalions of troops, and it is impossible to break through our defense line consisting of several divisions." Managarov said confidently: "They will definitely continue to increase their troops in the future. If we use heavy artillery too early and let the enemy figure out our strength, I am afraid that the next battle will be difficult to fight."

  When Sameko offered to use the heavy artillery regiment to support the 28th Guards Division, Sokov disagreed in his heart. Even if the German army dispatched 20 tanks, they used only two battalions of infantry. This enemy, two infantry regiments and one artillery regiment of the Guards Division, is more than enough to deal with it. Using heavy artillery regiments under such circumstances is simply a waste.

   Just as he was thinking about how to politely refuse to provide heavy artillery support for the Guards Division, Managarov preemptively said what he wanted to say. After he glanced at the other party with grateful eyes, he echoed: "Comrade General is right. This German army attacking the Guards Division may just be the vanguard of a tentative attack. If we expose our strength prematurely, In the next battle, we will be in a passive situation."

Seeing that the two commanders reached an agreement, Derevyanko did not mention the support of the heavy artillery regiment, but said to the commander of the Guards Division on the other side of the microphone: "Comrade commander, the commander ordered your department to immediately dispatch The 89th Guards Infantry Regiment, the 61st Guards Artillery Regiment to support the 88th Guards Regiment, and the 92nd Guards Regiment to hold their positions."

  The division commander on the other end of the phone vaguely heard the discussion in the headquarters here. At this moment, when I heard the order given to myself by Derevyanko, I immediately agreed loudly: "Understood, Comrade Chief of Staff, I will immediately follow your order and mobilize the front of the 89th Guards Infantry Regiment and the 61st Guards Artillery Regiment. Go to support the 88th Guards Regiment, and the 92nd Guards Regiment will continue to stick to the existing positions."

Before putting down the phone, Derevyanko specially emphasized to the commander of the Guards Division: "Comrade commander, don't worry, you are not fighting alone. There is a powerful main force of the army behind you. When you are in danger, We will send troops to reinforce you."

   "Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." The commander of the guards never felt that the two battalions of German troops who invaded were able to break through their own defense line, just because they reported to their superiors according to the regulations. At this moment when he received the official order, he said confidently: "As long as there is one soldier in our division alive, the enemy will never let the enemy cross our position."

When Derevyanko put down the phone, Sokov reminded Managarov: "Comrade General, since the Germans have already started crossing the river from the upper reaches, the operation of crossing the river from the lower reaches will soon begin. You see, whether to send effective troops, Conduct patrols along the Dnieper River in order to detect the enemy's intention to cross the river at the first time."

   "General Sokov," Sokov's words reminded Managarov that it was really impossible to strengthen the reconnaissance along the river. But if you want to rely on infantry to patrol, not only will you use a lot of troops, but the effect will not be good, so you tentatively asked Sokov: "Is there a reconnaissance squadron stationed at the airport in the north of the city this morning? I think we can send reconnaissance planes, Carry out inspections along the river. If the Germans really intend to cross the river, then our reconnaissance planes will be able to discover it immediately and give feedback in time. What do you think?"

  If Managarov didn't mention the reconnaissance plane, Sokov almost forgot that there was a squadron of reconnaissance planes just coming up, and turned into the airport in the north of the city. If a reconnaissance plane is dispatched for reconnaissance, not only the reconnaissance range can be increased, but also the reconnaissance speed will be greatly increased.

  After thinking about this, Sokov readily agreed to Managarov's proposal. He turned around and told Sameko, "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately call the airport in the north of the city and ask them to dispatch two reconnaissance planes to conduct reconnaissance at the lower reaches of the Dnieper River to see if there is any sign of German troops crossing the river."

   "Okay, Comrade Commander." Sameko nodded and replied, "I will immediately pass on your order to let the reconnaissance plane patrol the lower reaches of the Dnieper River to see if there is any sign of German troops gathering on the right bank."

  (end of this chapter)